If a student withdraws before the Last Day to Register or Add/Drop Classes deadline they may be eligible for a refund as outlined in the Academic Calendar. After this deadline a student may withdraw under certain circumstances outlined in the Graduate and Professional Withdrawal Guide. Regardless of when a student withdraws from courses, either before or after the Last Day to Register or Add/Drop Classes deadline, their financial aid is subject to adjustment or return according to the policies below.

Federal Return to Title IV (R2T4) Policy

APU is required by federal regulations to use a prescribed formula to calculate the unearned portion of the financial aid received and return it to the Title IV programs. For more information, see the Graduate and Professional Withdrawal Guide.

Institutional Aid Return Policy

Dropping a class through the Last Day to Register or Add/Drop Classes results in a full return (100%) of any institutional aid associated with the dropped class. When a student withdraws, institutional financial aid may be adjusted at the discretion of the departments awarding the scholarship funds. If a student believes that extenuating circumstances warrant an exception from published policy, he/she must submit a written appeal to the Student Services Center.

Military Tuition Assistance Return Policy

The Department of Defense memorandum of understanding requires that the university “have an institutional policy that returns any unearned Tuition Assistance (TA) funds on a proportional basis through at least the 60 percent 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.” In accordance with that requirement, the university TA funds return policy is as follows:

Between the start date of a course and up to the add/drop date of that course (as defined by the academic calendar), the university will refund 100% of TA funds back to the respective military department if a student drops from a course for which TA funds were used to pay tuition. After the add/drop date and prior to the 61 percent point, “earned” TA funds are prorated on a per-day basis. For example, if a student has $100 in TA funds applied to their account for a course and completes 14 days of a 60-day course (23 percent), then the student is considered to have earned $23. The remaining $77 would be returned. The student’s withdrawal date is calculated in accordance with the institution’s withdrawal date definitions for federal R2T4 purposes. After the 60 percent point in a class, a student is considered to have “earned” all TA funds and no return is made.

Note: Any return of aid request from one of the branches of the Armed Forces will supersede the institutional return policy. If, according to the university return policy a student earned a portion of TA funds, but the service branch is requesting a full refund of TA funds, the university will return the amount requested by the service branch.

Return of Aid for a Deceased Student

In the event of a deceased student, APU will conduct a full evaluation of the student account and make the appropriate adjustments to financial aid in accordance with all federal, state, or institutional aid regulations.