Credits on Accounts

Title IV credits:

Title IV credits are defined as a credit created when only calculating the federal funds received. For those students, refunds are issued within 14 days of creation with no action required by the student or family. These credits are not used for anything other than direct charges of tuition, activity fee, room, and board.

For all other students:

If a student has more financial aid than the charges on the account, he/she has a credit on their student account and is eligible to receive a refund for the credit. When looking at your student account, a credit balance will have a “-“ in front of the amount. Student Accounts will hold the credit until either the student requests it or the student leaves the College.

Financial aid is disbursed to the student’s account in the following order:

1. Institutional Aid
2. State Aid
3. Federal Pell Grants
4. Other Federal Grants
5. Outside sources – scholarships and grants
6. Subsidized Stafford Loan
7. Unsubsidized Stafford Loan
8. Private Loans
9. PLUS Loans
10. Payment from student/parent

When the Refund Comes from Financial Aid:
To Request a Refund:

1. Students e-mail studentaccounts@cornellcollege.edu to request a refund. Any requests received prior to Wednesday at noon are issued on Friday.
2. If a student misses a deadline one week, the request will be processed the following week.
3. Standard practice is to refund the credit to the student's bank account if an ACH Authorization is on file or via check, delivered to the student's campus mailbox. If the student wishes to request a different mailing address, it must be stated in the email.

When the Refund Comes From a Parent PLUS Loan or a Payment Made By a Parent:
If a parent borrows a PLUS loan for more than the charges on the student account, a credit is created. The refund will be issued to either the borrower of the loan or the student, depending on the selection made by the parent at the time of application for the loan.

To Request a Refund:

1. This request should be sent to studentaccounts@cornellcollege.edu. Any requests received prior to Wednesday at noon are issued on Friday.
2. If a parent misses a deadline one week, the check will be issued the following week.
3. A parent may request the refund go to the student on campus, to the parent's home address or via EFT to an account specified by the borrower.