Any debt owed to the college is deducted before issuing a refund. LSC adheres to Federal regulations regarding refunds of federal financial aid funds for prior aid years.
Refunds are not provided after the class begins.
A full refund is provided if a drop/add form is completed and submitted to the continuing education registration office before the course starts.
Students who drop a course or who totally withdraw before the first class day have their tuition and fees refunded except for the registration fee, the payment plan service fee, or the late fee, if applicable.
Students who drop a course or withdraw after the first calendar day of the semester will receive a partial tuition and fees refund except for the registration fee, the payment plan service fee, or the late fee, if applicable, in accordance with “Refund Amounts and Cut-Off Dates” below.
Note: Title IV (Federal Pell Grant, FSEOG, Direct Loans) aid recipients are subject to a different policy upon complete withdrawal of classes. Please see “If Receiving Financial Aid” below.
Current Financial Aid Refunds Affected by Prior Year Delinquencies
The current term financial aid refunds may be reduced by up to $200 to recover a delinquent balance owed to Lone Star College in a prior financial aid award year. This recovery will post to your student account prior to the refunding of excess financial aid, and it will reduce the amount of the refund for the current term.
Financial Aid Refunds and Federal Return to Title IV (R2T4) Requirements
The issuance and acceptance of Title IV financial aid are contingent upon strict federal regulations, including how aid must be returned to the Department of Education if a student withdraws from classes. Once classes start, it is important that you carefully consider the consequences of withdrawing from your classes. Withdrawal may result in a partial or total loss of your financial aid. If this occurs, the amount of financial aid returned will post to your student account as a pull back, and you may owe Lone Star College the corresponding amount. The percentage of the term you complete will equal the percentage of the Title IV assistance you are permitted to keep. The remaining award amount must be returned as prescribed by law.
LSC's financial aid office will notify you of the amount owed to the Department of Education (ED). You will be allowed 45 days to pay Lone Star College the full debt owed to ED. After the 45-day period, if the debt is not paid in full, it will be referred to the Department of Education for collection. Payment arrangements must be made with ED in order to maintain eligibility for Title IV funds. Once your Title IV refund amounts are determined, they will be refunded to the Title IV programs in the following order:
- Unsubsidized Stafford student loans
- Subsidized Stafford student loans
- Plus Loan program
- Pell Grant program
- Federal SEOG grant program
For more information, please click this link
Students enrolled in a payment plan that drop after classes begin may be required to continue making payments to cover the costs of the remaining balance.
Students will not be refunded more than the amount paid towards their payment plans.
Please note payment plan administration fees are nonrefundable.
If the college cancels or discontinues a scheduled course, a 100% refund is granted.
Flex Entry and Non-Semester Length Courses
|
Prior to the first scheduled calendar session |
100% |
|
After classes begin, see drops and withdrawals chart. |
|
Drops and Withdrawals
| Length of Class Session in Weeks | Last Day for 70% Refund | Last Day for 25% Refund |
|---|---|---|
|
2 Weeks or less |
2nd day of session |
N/A |
|
3 weeks |
3rd day of session |
4th day of session |
|
4 weeks |
4th day of session |
5th day of session |
|
5 weeks |
5th day of session |
6th day of session |
|
6 weeks |
5th day of session |
7th day of session |
|
7 weeks |
7th day of session |
9th day of session |
|
8 weeks |
8th day of session |
10th day of session |
|
9 weeks |
9th day of session |
11th day of session |
|
10 weeks |
9th day of session |
12th day of session |
|
11 weeks |
10th day of session |
14th day of session |
|
12 weeks |
12th day of session |
15th day of session |
|
13 weeks |
13h day of session |
16th day of session |
|
14 weeks |
13th day of session |
17th day of session |
|
15 weeks |
14th day of session |
19th day of session |
|
16 weeks or longer |
15th day of session |
20th day of session |
If you originally paid using:
If you have set up an eRefund account: Your refund will be electronically deposited.
If you have not set up an eRefund account: A check will be sent to your home address. Please allow an additional two weeks for delivery.
If you paid online: Current term refunds will be applied towards the credit card(s) used for the original payment. Refunds for prior terms made by credit card will process as a paper check or to your electronic refund profile. We cannot process refunds to credit cards if the payment is over 180 days old due to guidelines set by the payment card industry.
If you paid at a campus business office: A check may also be issued if you had paid with a credit card at a campus business office. Please allow an additional two weeks for delivery.
You are responsible for the interest charged to the credit card account while the refund is processed.
Refunds are sent back to third-party sponsors.
Set up an electronic refund profile!
We highly recommend for all students to create an electronic refund profile. Steps to create an electronic refund profile can be found here as well as the tutorial video posted down below. Refund profiles should be created 24 hours prior to the refund date to ensure refunds are processed electronically.
Processed two weeks after the Official Day of Record for the term.
|
Fall & Spring |
Two weeks after the Official Day of Record (ODR) and continuing weekly through the end of the term, distributed no later than each Friday afternoon. |
|
Winter Mini |
Follows the Spring semester refund schedule. |
|
May-Mini |
Follows the Summer semester refund schedule. |
|
Summer |
Two weeks after Official Day of Record (ODR) and continuing weekly through the end of the term, distributed no later than each Thursday afternoon. |
For questions regarding the disbursement of your financial aid award, please contact Financial Aid at FACC@lonestar.ed. Additional contact information can be found here.
For questions regarding refunds, please contact your business office.
|
Fall & Spring |
Approximately 18 days after the Official Day of Record (ODR) and continue weekly after that to the end of the current term. |
|
Summer |
Two weeks after ODR for the Summer I session and continues weekly thereafter to the end of the summer term. |
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 (DoD) policy, Lone Star College 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, the educational institution will work with the affected service member to identify solutions that will not result in student debt for the returned portion.
After 60% of the semester has passed, TA will not be evaluated for a return to the DoD.
As an institution, the DoD will be billed after 60% of the semester has passed to reduce the amount of incorrect TA funds being disbursed by the DoD to Lone Star College. We will only bill for the amount the student earned given their enrollment.
The amount of unearned TA that is returned to the military service branch is based on the date of withdrawal from the course based on the following formula:
Percentage of payment period or term completed = the number of days completed up to the withdrawal date divided by the total days in the payment period or term.
For courses that have durations differing from those listed below:
Unearned TA funds will be returned on a prorated basis, depending on the length of the course. To determine the amount of TA funds that need to be returned, the institution will determine the date the withdrawal was submitted, and then divide that by the number of days in the term to determine the percentage of TA that was earned by the student.
Example: The student enrolled in a course with a duration of 30 days. The withdrawal was submitted on the 14th day. The institution would perform the calculation to determine how much TA was earned by the student’s attendance: (14 divided by 30 equals 46.6%. 47% of the TA authorized was earned by the student, which means 53% of what was authorized will be returned to the DOD).
Regular 16-Week Course (TA only)
| Regular 16-Week Course | Amount to Return |
|---|---|
| Week 1 (Days 1-7) | 94% |
| Week 2 (Days 8-14) | 87% |
| Week 3 (Days 15-21) | 81% |
| Week 4 (Days 22-28) | 75% |
| Week 5 (Days 29-35) | 69% |
| Week 6 (Days 36-42) | 62% |
| Week 7 (Days 43-49) | 56% |
| Week 8 (Days 50-56) | 50% |
| Week 9 (Days 57-63) | 44% |
| Week 10 (Days 64-67) 60% of Course is Complete | 40% |
8-Week Course (TA Only)
| 8-Week Course | Amount to Return |
|---|---|
| Days 1-5 | 81% |
| Days 6-10 | 82% |
| Days 11-15 | 73% |
| Days 16-20 | 50% |
| Days 21-25 | 55% |
| Days 26-30 | 46% |
| Days 31-34 (60% of Course is Completed) | 40% |
6-Week Course (TA Only)
| 6-Week Course | Amount to Return |
|---|---|
| Days 1-4 | 90% |
| Days 5-8 | 81% |
| Days 9-12 | 71% |
| Days 13-16 | 62% |
| Days 17-20 | 52% |
| Days 21-24 | 43% |
| Days 25 (60% of Course is Completed) | 40% |