What is a Financial Aid Refund?
Financial aid is intended to cover educational expenses. If the total amount of your financial aid award for the semester exceeds the institutional charges on your NSU student account, (e.g., tuition, fees, campus housing, NSU health insurance, meals), you may receive a financial aid refund. If you are eligible to receive a refund, you will be receiving your refund in form of a check unless you have completed a Direct Deposit Authorization or the account has been paid by credit card or gift card, in which case the excess credit will be returned to your card. Therefore, students are advised to retain any gift cards used to make payments.
If your financial aid funds did not disburse as expected (were not credited to your account by the scheduled disbursement date), visit the financial aid website to learn about common reasons that may prevent your financial aid from being awarded or disbursed.
When Will I Receive My Financial Aid Refund?
Your financial aid award will be credited to your student account at the beginning of each semester/term, provided you have submitted all required information and meet all financial aid general eligibility criteria. Loans are scheduled to disburse seven days prior to the beginning of the semester/term. Institutional scholarships, federal grants, and state grants/scholarships are scheduled to disburse after the end of the registration or drop/add period for your program. Students can verify their disbursement dates in SharkLink.
The Bursar's Office generally processes refunds within 10 days once a credit balance appears on your student account. Students should make arrangements to pay cost-of living-expenses, books, and any other applicable expenses until excess funds are issued. If charges are incurred on your NSU account after a refund is issued, you are expected to use the funds received in this refund to pay your account balance.
Important: Important: In order to process your refund, your mailing address in SharkLink must be current and active. View/update your address on the Personal Information page in Self-Service Banner.
Parent PLUS Refunds
If a student's refund is a result of a Parent PLUS loan and the parent did not elect to have the credit balance refunded to the student, the refund will generally be issued to the parent on the loan application by mailed check.
Direct Deposit Authorization
Refunds can be conveniently deposited into your checking account. Direct Deposit is an expedient, safe, and environmentally friendly way to receive your financial aid refunds to your personal checking account. No need to wait for the mail and stand in line at the bank to cash your check. If you do not have direct deposit set up, your refund check will be mailed to you. To set up direct deposit, enter your banking information via SharkLink. For detailed instructions, visit the direct deposit webpage.
If a student's direct deposit fails, NSU will revoke the direct deposit enrollment and contact the student to re-enroll and update their banking information. If a student does not re-enroll in direct deposit and update their banking information, the refund will be issued by check and mailed to the student's preferred mailing address in SharkLink.
Uncashed or Returned Refunds
The university expects issued refunds to clear in a reasonable time frame (within 120 days). If your refund includes loan funds, you are responsible for repaying the loans, even if you do not deposit the check. If you wish to cancel a refund check issued to you, submit an Uncashed Refund Check Authorization Form to the bursar’s office.
Uncashed Refund Check Authorization Form
Direct deposits are considered cleared when the direct deposit is successful. Checks are considered cleared when the check is cashed. The bursar’s office will conduct a review of any uncashed student refund checks within 180 days of the original refund date and will make an attempt to contact the payee (current or former student) via email before the funds are returned.
NSU follows federally mandated guidelines for Title IV funds and state of Florida guidelines for non-Title IV funds.
- Uncashed refund checks with Title IV funds are returned to the Department of Education’s respective financial aid program in the following order: Unsubsidized Direct Loans, Subsidized Direct Loans, Direct PLUS Loans, Federal Pell Grants, and FSEOG Grants.
- Non-Title IV funds that remain uncashed will be escheated to the student’s state of residency as unclaimed funds.
Financial Aid Tip
Keep in mind that all money you borrow (student loans) will have to be repaid with interest. When the time comes to repay your student loans, you may wish you had borrowed less. To learn more about managing your debt, visit the Debt Squad.