Fall & Spring Semesters:
Summer Semesters:
A $30 late payment charge will be assessed on any past due student account. This includes, but is not limited to, past due payment plans, rent payments, tuition adjustments, and adjustments to financial aid awards.
A $25 bad check/ACH fee will be assessed to a student whose registration check/ACH does not clear the bank when presented. Students failing to redeem their registration checks/ACH by the date stated on the notification letter will have their registration canceled.
There is a $25 fee assessed for each non-registration check/ACH which does not clear the bank when presented.
In addition to the assessed bad check/ACH fee, the University reserves the right to take one or more of the following actions:
For information regarding Student Health Insurance, please refer to the MSU Student Health Insurance Plan
Organizations sponsoring international students will be charged an annual administrative fee for services and support rendered. The fee of $700 is assessed in two installments of $350 each for the Fall and Spring semesters for students who register at those times.
If a student withdraws from the University or drops a course, the refund policy is:
Net refunds due to a drop of credits or withdrawal from the University are processed daily and posted to the student's account. Amounts due students will be applied against outstanding balances owed the University or refunded to students. Questions regarding account balances should be referred to the Student Accounts Office, Hannah Administration Building, 426 Auditorium Road Rm 140.
Except for the last two weeks of the semester, residents granted a contract release will be refunded unused housing and food service payments for the balance of the academic semester. Details are found in the Rules for Living in the Residence Halls (pdf).
All financial aid (except College Work Study) which has been authorized at the time the billing statement is produced, will appear on the bill. There are two types of financial aid - actual and anticipated.
Actual financial aid is aid which you are eligible to receive, as of the date of the bill. This aid will be listed in the "Financial Aid" transaction section of the bill. It has been applied to the fees you owe, reducing the amount you owe.
Anticipated financial aid will be listed separately on the bill, in the "Anticipated Financial Aid" section. Anticipated aid is not an actual payment on your account; it does not reduce the amount you owe. Anticipated aid is used to reduce the amount needed to establish a payment plan.
Anticipated aid becomes actual aid 1) when you have accepted all aid as required and completed on-line or paper promissory notes as needed for any student or parent loans; 2) when parent loan credit checks are approved and the record is received by MSU; and 3) when the legal disbursement date for federal loans has arrived (generally 10 days before the first day of your first class)
You may view your financial aid awards in the MSU Student Portal
Some private loans and scholarships are still issuing funds by check. If you have a such an award, you may be asked to visit the Office of Financial Aid in the Student Services Building, 556 E. Circle Dr Rm 252, to endorse your check. Make sure your MSU student ID number is on the check as well.
The National Merit Scholarship will appear as anticipated financial aid on your account until MSU receives actual funds from National Merit at the beginning of the semester.
Follow the instructions that that appear on the Financial Aid portion of the MSU Student Portal. Eligibility for each of the different awards is monitored at various points in the semester, ranging from the point of time it is credited to your account, to the end of the semester. You should refer to the Office of Financial Aid page for more specific information.
If the total of your actual financial aid (no longer anticipated aid) exceeds the amount you owe, you are entitled to a refund. Refunds will be directly deposited or mailed to your local address (if provided) the week before classes begin. If your aid is finalized after this, refunds are produced several times a week through the first week of class and directly deposited or mailed the following workday. After this period, refunds are produced and directly deposited or mailed weekly.
The Higher Education Amendments of 1998, as well as the program integrity regulations in 2010, set forth regulations governing the treatment of Title IV funds when a student withdraws from an institution.
There are three types of withdrawals that fall under the return to Title IV (R2T4) federal calculation regulations:
When a student is considered to have withdrawn, as described above, during an enrollment period in which they have begun attendance and received federal Title IV financial aid, Michigan State University is required to determine the amount of earned and unearned Title IV aid. A student is only eligible to retain the percentage of Title IV aid disbursed that is equal to the percentage of the enrollment period that was completed by the student (calculated daily). The unearned Title IV aid must then be returned to the appropriate federal aid program(s) within 45 days of the date of the determination of your withdrawal. If more than 60% of the enrollment period has been completed by the student, no Title IV aid needs to be returned.
According to university policy, when a student withdraws prior to the quarter of the semester and/or receives a 100% tuition refund from the university, all of that semesters federal Title IV grant aid (SEOG, Pell Grant, Federal Teach Grant, Iraq and Afghanistan Service Grant) will be billed back to the students account. Most non-federal aid will also be billed back to the students account. All Title IV aid will be included in the calculations outlined below. Depending on the results of the calculations, some or all of the federal grant aid may be re-disbursed to the student account.
The following steps will be followed when determining the amount of Title IV aid to be returned upon withdrawal:
A student may be eligible for a post-withdrawal disbursement if, prior to withdrawing, the student earned more federal financial aid than was disbursed. If a student is eligible for a post-withdrawal disbursement for Title IV funds, it will be processed for the student and a refund will be issued within 14 days of the credit balance.
If the post-withdrawal disbursement includes loan funds, Michigan State University must get the student’s permission before it can disburse the loan. Students may choose to decline some or all of the loan funds so that s/he does not incur additional debt. A notice will be sent out to the student, and the signed, original document must be returned to the School within 14 days.
Michigan State University may automatically use all or a portion of the post-withdrawal disbursement of grant funds for tuition and fees. However, the school needs the student’s permission to use the post-withdrawal grant disbursement for all other school charges. If the student does not give his/her permission, the student will be offered the funds. However, it may be in the student’s best interest to allow the school to keep the funds to reduce the student’s debt at the school.
It is also important to understand that accepting a post-withdrawal disbursement of student loan funds will increase a student’s overall student loan debt that must be repaid under the terms of the Master Promissory Note. Additionally, accepting the disbursement of grant funds will reduce the remaining amount of grant funds available to the student should the student continue his/her education at a later time.
Example of a Title IV return of funds calculation for a Title IV recipient who is considered to have withdrawn:
Title IV Return of Funds | Amount |
---|---|
Institutional Charges | $5,000 |
Title IV Loans | $2,000 |
Title IV Grants | $1,000 |
Total Title IV aid | $3,000 |
Student withdrew on 35th day of a 110 day enrollment period.
Percent Earned 35/110 = 32%
Percent Unearned 100% - 32% = 68%
Amount of Title IV aid unearned $3,000 x 68% = $2,040
MSU is responsible for returning the lesser of unearned Title IV aid ($2,040 from above) or unearned institutional charges ($5,000 x 68% = $3,400). MSU will return aid as follows:
The students responsibility is amount of aid unearned ($2,040) less school responsibility ($2,040), which is zero.
The example shown above does not reflect every student refund situation that may exist. More detailed calculation examples are available in the Student Accounts Office, Hannah Administration Building, 426 Auditorium Road Rm 140, East Lansing, MI 48824, 517-355-5050, Fax 517-353-9640. Questions regarding the Return of Title IV Funds Policy for students who withdraw should be addressed to the Office of Financial Aid.
The University reserves the right to amend the Title IV Return of Funds Policy at any time in order to comply with Federal regulations.
Military Tuition Assistance (TA) is awarded to a student under the assumption that the student will attend school for the entire period for which the assistance is awarded. When a student withdraws, the student may no longer be eligible for the full amount of TA funds originally awarded.
To comply with the new Department of Defense policy, Michigan State University will return any unearned TA funds on a prorated basis through at least the 60% portion of the period for which the funds were provided. TA funds are earned proportionally during an enrollment period, with unearned funds returned based upon when a student stops attending. These funds are returned to the military Service branch.
Instances when a Service member stops attending due to a military service obligation, Michigan State University will work with the affected Service member to identify solutions that will not result in student debt for the returned portion.
When a student “officially” withdraws from a course, the date of withdrawal will be used as the last date of attendance. If a student receives a zero grade for a course, that is considered an “unofficial” withdrawal.
For unofficial withdrawals, Michigan State University (MSU) will determine the last date of attendance (LDA) by reviewing the last date of activity within a course. For online courses, MSU will determine LDA based on the last date a student made a contribution to the class or submitted an assignment. For face to face courses, the LDA is reported by the instructor on the grade report.
Once the LDA has been determined, MSU will recalculate the TA eligibility based on the following formula:
Before or during weeks 1 – 4 = 100% return
During weeks 5-8 = 10% return
During week 9 = 10% return (60% of course is completed)
During weeks 10-16 = 0% return