Business office

BUSINESS OFFICE

Personal checks may be cashed without charge in the Business office, Room 148, Alexandria Hall.  Appropriate identification must be provided.  Checks may not exceed $50.00 a day.  A fee of $20.00 will be assessed for NSF checks.  Check writing privileges will be denied anyone who has written more than one NSF check to the University. The Business office hours are 7:45 am – 5:00 pm  Monday – Thursday;  7:45 am – 12:00 noon Friday.

 

STUDENT ACCOUNTS

Full payment of student accounts is due at registration.  However, additional charges may occur on/or after registration for such items as schedule changes, dormitory and meal plan changes, NSF checks, etc.  The outstanding balances must be paid promptly.  If a balance remains on a student’s account at the end of a semester:

Grades will be held;

  1. Transcripts, official or unofficial, will not be released, and
  2. The student will be ineligible to register for any subsequent semester at Louisiana Christian University until their student account is paid in full.

Students with an outstanding balance on their account must receive clearance from the office of the Chief Financial officer by paying their account in full prior to registration for the subsequent term.

 

UNIVERSITY REFUND POLICY

 

DROPPED COURSES

Students may drop individual classes with a full refund of tuition and any related course fees through the official drop/add period posted on the Academic Calendar. Individually dropped classes after this date will receive no refund of tuition or related course fees.

 

REFUND SCHEDULE UPON RESIGNATION FROM THE UNIVERSITY

Students wishing to withdraw from all classes must officially resign from the university.

No withdrawal is official unless it is made through the office of Academic Affairs, the Registrar's office, the Financial Aid office, and the Business office. To resign from school, the student should obtain a resignation form from the Registrar's office. The student should then obtain required signatures and clearances from various campus offices. The resignation process will be completed once the resignation form is presented to and signed by the Business office. 

Refunds will be calculated as of the date the resignation process began, as noted on the resignation form. 

Students who unofficially “withdraw” by ceasing to attend class will not be eligible to receive a refund of tuition, room or board. Additionally, students who are administratively withdrawn due to disciplinary action will not receive a refund of tuition, room or board. 

Students who officially withdraw from all classes, thereby resigning from the University, will be refunded according to the following schedule:

 

FALL AND SPRING SEMESTER REFUND SCHEDULE (*)

Tuition (Related course fees will not be refunded)

Through the last day of drop/add per the academic calendar....................................100%

Through the 10th business day of the semester……………........................................75% 

11th through 15th business day of the semester...........................................................50% 

16th through 20th business day of the semester.........................................................25% 

After the 20th day of the semester................................................................................0% 

 

Refunds for room charges will be issued according to the same schedule above for resident students withdrawing from classes or subsequently moving off-campus with proper approval.

Refunds for board charges (less associated Cat Cash) will be calculated on a prorated basis of eight weeks from the first day of class in the fall and spring semesters. After eight weeks of the semester, there will be no prorated refund of board charges. 

 

1st week of the semester……………………..90% of board charges (less associated Cat Cash)

2nd week of the semester…………………….85% of board charges (less associated Cat Cash)

3rd week of the semester…………………….80% of board charges (less associated Cat Cash)

4th week of the semester……………………..75% of board charges (less associated Cat Cash)

5th week of the semester……………………..70% of board charges (less associated Cat Cash)

6th week of the semester……………………..65% of board charges (less associated Cat Cash)

7th week of the semester……………………..60% of board charges (less associated Cat Cash)

8th week of the semester……………………..55% of board charges (less associated Cat Cash)

After the 8th week……………………………….0% refund

 

*This refund schedule begins the first official day of class which is defined as the first day classes meet and not the first day of class attendance by the student.

 

DISTRIBUTION OF REFUND CHECKS

Refunds resulting from drop/adds or resignations will not be made until after an audit of fees has been performed.  Refunds resulting from resignations will not be disbursed to students until both Federal and Institutional financial aid sources have been reimbursed according to Title IV regulations.  Credit balances resulting from application of financial aid will be available for refund according to Federal guidelines.

Return of Title IV Funds

Withdrawal Process

The Registrar’s office must be notified if a student decides to withdraw from all courses at the University. The notification may be in writing, by phone, by e-mail, or in person. The student’s withdrawal date is the date the student began the withdrawal process or officially notified LCU of intent to withdraw by contacting the Registrar’s office.

For students who fail to officially withdraw, the institution may administratively withdraw the student. The withdraw date for an administrative withdrawal will be determined at the University’s option to be 1) the midpoint of the enrollment period, or 2) the last documented date of attendance at an academically related event, or 3) the date an event occurred which prevented the student from officially withdrawing from the institution. Such events include illness, grievous personal loss, or other such circumstances beyond the student’s control.

To be considered ‘withdrawn’ a student must have ceased enrollment in all. If a student reduces their course load from 12 to 9 hours for example, the reduction represents an enrollment change, not a withdrawal.

Students Who Receive Federal Title IV Financial Aid (R2T4 Policy)

General Information

The US Department of Education requires institutions to apply the Return to Title IV Funds policy for students withdrawing from a University who receive Title IV financial aid. The Title IV programs include: Federal Pell Grants, Iraq and Afghanistan Service Grants, TEACH Grants, Direct Loans, Direct Plus Loans and Federal Supplemental Educational Opportunity Grants (FSEOGs).

The requirements for Title IV program funds when you withdraw are separate from any refund policy that your school may have. Therefore, you may still owe funds to the school to cover unpaid institutional charges. LCU will charge the student for any Title IV program funds that LCU was required to return.

A student who withdraws after the 60% point of a semester is entitled to retain all Title IV aid for that semester. However, if the student withdraws prior to the 60% point of the term, unearned Title IV funds as determined by the federal policy must be returned to the various programs. These funds must be returned even if the University provides no refund to the student. This means the student could owe the University and/or the U.S. Department of Education a significant amount of money.

Post Withdrawal Disbursement

If the student did not receive all of the funds that were earned prior to withdrawing, a post-withdrawal disbursement may be due. If the post-withdrawal disbursement includes loan funds, the student must give permission before the funds can be disbursed. LCU may automatically use all or a portion of the post-withdrawal disbursement of grant funds for tuition, fees, and room and board charges. Permission is required to use the post-withdrawal grant disbursement for all other school charges. Students will be notified of post-withdrawal disbursement eligibility within 30 days of the date of withdrawal determination. The school must return the Title IV funds within 45 days of the date the school determines the student withdrew.

Documenting Attendance

Before processing a Return to Title IV Funds, the University must verify the student began attendance in all classes used to determine financial aid eligibility. The University will contact all instructors to verify class attendance. If a faculty member indicates that a student never attended, the University will first adjust the disbursed aid if there is a resulting change in eligibility and then calculate the Return of Title IV Funds. As a result, the student may end up owing the institution for the amount of unearned aid. If the student never attended any classes, all aid will be cancelled and the student billed for all outstanding charges.

Determining Earned Aid

Though your aid is posted to your account at the start of each semester, you earn the funds as you complete the semester. Title IV financial aid is earned by the calendar day, not class day. This includes weekends, holidays, and breaks of less than five consecutive days. The University is required to determine the amount of Title IV aid the withdrawing student has earned and then either disburse any additional funds the student may be entitled to up to the amount earned, or return funds in excess of the amount earned which the student has already received.

If you withdraw during your enrollment period, the amount of Title IV program assistance that you have earned up to that point is determined by a specific formula. If you received (or your school or parent received on your behalf) less assistance than the amount that you earned, you may be able to receive those funds. If you received more assistance than you earned, the excess funds must be returned by LCU.

When a student receiving Federal Title IV financial aid withdraws from LCU during the enrollment period, the amount of the Title IV funds (not including Federal Work Study) that the student earned during the enrollment period is calculated as of the student's withdrawal date.

Title IV funds are earned at a fixed rate on a per day basis up to the 60 percent point in the enrollment period. Title IV funds are 100 percent earned if the withdrawal date is after the 60 percent point in that period.

If the date a student withdraws from LCU is prior to or on the 60% point of the semester, LCU is required to determine the portion of the aid disbursed that was "earned" by the student before the withdrawal date. The "unearned" Title IV funds must be returned to the respective federal aid programs. Unearned aid is the amount of disbursed Title IV aid that exceeds the amount of Title IV aid earned based on attendance in the enrollment period.

For example: If $1000 in federal aid is disbursed, and the student withdraws at the 30% point of the term, $700 of the aid is unearned and needs to be returned to the identified aid program.

The following formula is used to determine the percentage of unearned aid that has to be returned to the federal government:

  • The percent earned is equal to the number of calendar days completed up to the withdrawal date, divided by the total calendar days in the payment period (less any scheduled breaks that are at least 5 days long)
  • The payment period is the entire semester. For students enrolled in modules (courses which are not scheduled for the entire semester or term), the payment period only includes those days for the modules(s) in which the student is registered.
  • The percent unearned is equal to 100% minus the percent earned.

Order of Aid to be Returned

In accordance with federal regulations and LCU policy, if you are eligible for a refund of tuition and fees and housing/meal plan costs, and you are a Title IV aid recipient for the enrollment period, the refund will be returned to the student aid programs. Returned Title IV Funds are allocated in the following order:

    • Direct Unsubsidized Loans
    • Direct Loans (subsidized)
    • Direct PLUS Loans (Graduate student)
    • Direct PLUS Loans (Parent)
    • Federal Pell Grants
    • Federal SEOG
    • TEACH Grant
    • Iraq Afghanistan Service Grant
    • Other Federal Sources of aid
  • Other State, Private and Institutional Aid.

Grant Overpayment

Any amount of unearned grant funds that the student must return is called an overpayment. The maximum amount of a grant overpayment the student must repay is half the grant funds that were received or scheduled to receive. The student does not have to repay a grant overpayment if the original amount of the overpayment is $50 or less. Arrangements must be made with LCU or the Department of Education to return the unearned grant funds. The student will be notified of any grant overpayment within 30 days of the date the school determined the student withdrew.

Notification to student

Once the Return to Title IV Funds caLCUlation has occurred, the Financial Aid office will notify the student of the results of the calculation and the aid that was returned. The Business office will notify the student of any outstanding balance now due to the institution as a result.

Unofficial withdrawals

Title IV aid recipients who fail to withdraw but stop attending class are considered unofficial withdraws. The Return to Title IV Funds policy requires LCU to calculate the "earned" amount based on the last day of attendance of the semester. If the student stopped attending prior to the 60% point of the term, the student will be billed for the outstanding charges as a result of the Return of Title IV funds. Unofficial withdrawals are processed within 30 days of determining the student was an unofficial withdrawal.

 

Please contact the Business office at 318.487.7452 with any further questions.