Notification Requirements
The Refund Policy pertains to the amount of tuition, fees, housing and meal plan that a student will be charged. To view the University’s refund policies regarding all charges, see the Student Accounts Refund Policies document.
All Undergraduate matriculated (degree-seeking) students who withdraw from BSU must communicate their withdrawal in writing through the Academic Achievement Center.
All Graduate matriculated (degree-seeking) students who withdraw from BSU must communicate their withdrawal in writing through the Office of Graduate Studies.
Financial Aid Withdrawal Policy
The Financial Aid Withdrawal Policy pertains to the amount of financial aid that the student may keep, based on the student’s date of withdrawal. The official date of withdrawal for this policy is the date that the student begins the official withdrawal process or the date that the student notifies the University of his or her intent to withdraw. In the case of an unofficial withdrawal, an enrollment census is distributed to faculty twice per semester. The reported last date of class attendance as documented through the institution’s census reporting will be used as the established date of withdrawal.
Students who are receiving financial aid (federal, state, institutional, and merit) are subject to the Financial Aid Withdrawal Policy. BSU must return any financial aid funds (including loans) to the appropriate aid programs that were not “earned” by the student. The amount of aid “earned” is determined based on the amount of time the student was enrolled. For example, if a student only completes 5% of the semester, the student only “earned” 5% of their financial aid. Three separate calculations are performed: One with all federal aid, a second with state aid, and a third with institutional and merit aid. The student in this example would be allowed to keep 5% of all federal aid and 5% of all other aid.
Students awarded who withdraw prior to aid being disbursed are entitled to a post-withdrawal disbursement. Notification is sent and students are given two weeks to submit written permission granting the institution authorization to disburse any eligible loan funds to their student account. If no response is received, all loan funds will be canceled.
Unearned Federal Title IV aid other than Federal Work Study must be repaid by the student in the following order:
- Federal Unsubsidized Direct Loan
- Federal Subsidized Direct Loan
- Federal Parent (PLUS) Loan
- Federal Pell Grant
- Federal SEOG
- Other Title IV Financial Aid
The Institution is responsible for returning any unearned Title IV aid within 45 days of the date the school determined the student withdrew. The student is responsible to repay 100% of unearned aid. It is very possible that a student who receives financial aid and withdraws during the financial aid withdrawal period will owe a balance to the BSU Student Accounts Office and may be required to repay funds to the U.S. Department of Education.
Before calculating the amount of financial aid that must be canceled, the following is taken into consideration:
- If a Promissory Note for a Mass No Interest Loan, Direct Subsidized Loan or Direct Unsubsidized Loan has not been signed and submitted by the student prior to the withdrawal date, the loan(s) is automatically canceled.
- If Entrance Counseling has not been completed by the student prior to the withdrawal date, the Direct Subsidized Loan and Direct Unsubsidized Loan are automatically canceled.
- If the student is a first time attendee of BSU and withdraws during the first 30 days of the semester, the Direct Subsidized Loan and Direct Unsubsidized Loan are automatically canceled.
- If a MassGrant or other State Grant is expected and not actual on the date of withdrawal, the MassGrant or other State Grant is automatically canceled.
The calculation applies the percentage to the amount of aid after the above adjustments have been made.