TUITION AND FEES REFUND POLICY

A student enrolled at Sam Houston State University may receive a refund of tuition and fees as a result of dropping courses or resigning from the University as indicated in the schedules below.

Refunds and credits from one department will be applied to any other outstanding balances in other departments. Any remaining refund will be credited to the Bearkat OneCard or mailed to the permanent address on the student record when the refund is processed. The University may refund tuition and fees paid by a sponsor, donor or scholarship to the source rather than directly to the student who has withdrawn if the funds were made available to the University.

Refund policies were established by Senate Bill No. 604 of the 65th Legislature and adopted by the Board of Regents, Texas State University System, in August of 1977 and by the applicable federal regulations dealing with first semester financial aid students.

Dropping Courses (see NOTE below)

A student who drops one or more courses for any given semester/summer session, but remains enrolled in at least one course may be eligible for refunds. The refund schedule for dropping courses is stated below.

NOTE: Class days are University class days, not the number of days an individual class meets. Class days are to be counted from the first class meeting of on-campus daytime courses as indicated in the Academic Calendar.

Resignations/Withdrawals (see NOTE below)

A student who resigns/withdraws from all of his/her courses for a given semester/summer session may be eligible for a refund of tuition and the specified fees, based upon the courses in which the student is enrolled on the official date of withdrawal.

Refunds are made in accordance with the following schedules:

NOTE: Class days are University class days, not the number of days an individual class meets. Class days are to be counted from the first class meeting of on-campus daytime courses as indicated in the Academic Calendar.

NOTE: Class days are University class days, not the number of days an individual class meets. Class days are to be counted from the first class meeting of on-campus daytime courses as indicated in the Academic Calendar.

Students who receive Title IV aid in the form of a Pell Grant, Supplemental Educational Opportunity Grant, Federal Stafford Loan, or PLUS Loan and resign on or before completing 60% of the semester will be required to repay the percentage of unearned financial aid according to the federal “Return to Title IV Aid” formula derived from the 1998 Re-authorization of the Higher Education Act. The percentage of aid to be repaid to student financial aid programs is equal to the number of calendar days remaining in the semester divided by the number of calendar days in the semester.

Refunds are to be returned to lenders or program accounts in the following statutorily specified order provided the student has received funds from the account:

1. Unsubsidized Federal Stafford Loan
2. Subsidized Federal Stafford Loan
3. Unsubsidized Direct Stafford Loans
4. Subsidized Direct Stafford Loans
5. Federal Perkins Loans
6. Federal PLUS Loans
7. Direct PLUS Loans
8. Federal Pell Grants
9. FSEOGs
10. Other federal, state, private or institutional sources of aid
11. The Student

The above schedule assumes the student has paid his or her fees in full. A different schedule applies to the installment payment plan participants — the primary difference in the schedule being the requirement for the University to compute the refund based on the assumption that the full amount of tuition and fees have been collected. Therefore, it is possible, and probable, that a student in the installment plan could owe more in tuition and fees than already collected by the University. These extra amounts, if any, would be due and payable before the student would be allowed to resign from the University.

RESIDENCE CLASSIFICATION FOR TUITION PURPOSES

The Texas Legislature and the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board establish the Rules and Regulations for determining residence classification. Texas residency for tuition purposes is generally obtained by residing and/or being gainfully employed in Texas for 12 consecutive months immediately prior to enrollment in any college or university, by being a dependent of a Texas resident (individual who is claimed as a dependent for federal income tax purposes by the individual’s parent or legal guardian at the time of registration and for the tax year preceding the year in which the individual registers), or by being classified as a Texas Resident for the first five of the six years immediately preceding registration (not living out of the state more than 12 months immediately prior to registration).

A nonresident student may qualify to pay in-state tuition by meeting the requirements of a tuition waiver. The current tuition waiver options include: 1) the student or his/her spouse or parent is a member of the U.S. Armed Forces and is stationed in Texas; 2) the student or his/her spouse or parent is employed at least half time by an institution of higher education in Texas as a teacher or professor; 3) the student or his/her spouse or parent has a teaching or research assistantship at any Texas institution of higher education on at least a half-time basis; 4) the student holds a competitive scholarship awarded by the university of at least $1,000 for the academic year or summer; or 5) is a student whose family has been transferred to Texas by a company in keeping with the state’s Economic Development and Diversification Program.

By state law, the student has the responsibility of registering under the proper residence classification. If a student has knowledge of an error in his/her residence classification for tuition purposes, it is the student’s responsibility to notify the Residence Classification Officer immediately. For more information concerning the Rules and Regulations for determining Texas residence classification, please contact the Residence Classification Officer, Office of Undergraduate Admissions, Sam Houston State University, Box 2418, Huntsville, Texas 77341-2418, or by calling (936) 294-3783 or 294-1828.

TUITION REBATES FOR CERTAIN UNDERGRADUATE STUDENTS

A tuition rebate program was created by Senate Bill 1907, 75th Texas Legislature, and is authorized by Section 54.0065 of the Texas Education Code.

The purpose of this program is to provide tuition rebates that will provide a financial incentive for students to prepare for university studies while completing their high school work, avail themselves of academic counseling, make early career decisions, and complete their baccalaureate studies with as few extraneous courses as possible. Minimizing the number of courses taken by students results in financial savings to students, parents, and the state.

Students are required to apply for the rebate during the semester in which the student plans to graduate or within 60 days of the date of graduation. Applications are available on the web, or the Registrar’s Office, Estill Classroom Building, 2nd floor.

TUITION FOR EXCESSIVE UNDERGRADUATE HOURS

Senate Bill 345, 76th Texas Legislature, states that an institution of higher education, under specific conditions, may charge a resident undergraduate student a higher tuition rate than the rate charged to other resident undergraduate students. The higher tuition rate may not exceed the rate charged to nonresident undergraduate students. law applies only to students who enrolled for the first time in a Texas public institution of higher education beginning with the 1999 fall semester.

The higher tuition rate may be charged to an undergraduate student, who is classified as a Texas resident for tuition purposes and, who before the semester or other academic session begins, has previously attempted at least 45 semester credit hours above the number of semester credit hours required for completion of the degree program in which the student is enrolled.

The following are not counted for purposes of determining whether the student exceeds the 45 semester credit hour limit: (1) semester credit hours earned by the student before receiving a baccalaureate degree that has been previously awarded to the student; (2) semester credit hours earned by the student by examination or any other procedure by which credit is earned for which tuition was not charged; (3) credit for a developmental education course, a technical course, a workforce education course funded according to contact hours, or another course that does not count toward the student’s degree program at the institution; and (4) semester credit hours earned at a private institution or out-of-state institution.

HOPE SCHOLARSHIP INCOME TAX CREDIT and LIFETIME LEARNING TAX CREDIT

Beginning January 1, 1998, taxpayers (students or their parents) may be eligible to claim a non refundable Hope Scholarship Tax Credit against their federal income taxes. The Hope Scholarship Credit may be claimed for the qualified tuition and certain related expenses (not housing/dining) of EACH student in the taxpayer’s family (i.e., the taxpayer, the taxpayer’s spouse, or an eligible dependent) who is enrolled at least halftime in one of the first two years of post secondary education and who is enrolled in a program leading to a degree, certificate, or other organized educational credential. The credit that may be claimed varies, depending on the family and student financial situation, but may be as much as $1,500 for a freshman or sophomore.

Another tax credit known as the Lifetime Learning Credit applies to junior, senior and/or graduate students enrolled at least halftime in an institution of higher education. Congress has established that the Lifetime Learning Tax Credit begins for payments made after July 1, 1998.