Student Accounts Credits and Refunds
What to do if you have a credit balance on your student account
If you have a credit balance on your student account, you may leave the credit on your account to apply to future charges, or you may request a refund.
If you would like the credit to remain on your account to apply to future charges, no action is needed on your part.
If you would like a refund, please email studentaccounts@cornellcollege.edu with your request. Typically, requests received prior to Tuesday at noon are processed that week.
Standard practice is to refund the credit to the student's bank account if an ACH authorization is on file, or via check delivered to the student's campus mailbox.
Download the ACH authorization
Upload your completed ACH authorization
Other refund information to consider
Title IV credits
Title IV credits are defined as credits created when only calculating the federal funds received. For those students, refunds are issued within 14 days of creation with no action required by the student or family. These credits are not used for anything other than direct charges of tuition, activity fee, general fee, room, and board.
For all other students
If a student has more credits (financial aid, payments, etc.) than charges on the account, the account will have a credit balance and the student is eligible to receive a refund for the credit. When looking at your student account, a credit balance will have a “-” in front of the balance amount. Student Accounts will hold the credit to be applied to upcoming charges until the student requests it or leaves the college.
Financial aid is disbursed to the student’s account in the following order:
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Institutional aid
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State aid
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Federal Pell Grants
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Other federal grants
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Outside sources – scholarships and grants
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Subsidized Stafford Loan
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Unsubsidized Stafford Loan
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Private loans
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PLUS Loans
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Payment from student/parent
When the refund comes from a Parent PLUS Loan
If a parent borrows a PLUS Loan for more than the charges on the student account, a credit is created. If a refund is requested per the instructions listed above, the refund will be issued to either the borrower of the loan or the student, depending on the selection made by the borrower at the time of application for the loan.