Department of Defense Tuition Assistance Refund

Policy

Department of Defense Tuition Assistance for Army, Navy, Airforce and Marines will be refunded based on a proportional basis through at least the 60 percent portion of the period of enrollment.

The University’s return policy for tuition assistance funds aligns with the return of unearned student aid rules applicable to Federal student aid as required under Section 484B of the Department of Education Title IV of the Higher Education Act of 1965.

Department of Defense Tuition Assistance is intended for students who are enrolled in and attending classes. There are timelines established that regulate whether a student has earned all of their Department of Defense Tuition Assistance funds. If a student remains enrolled and continues to attend beyond those timelines, all Department of Defense Tuition Assistance is considered earned and does not need to be repaid back to the Veterans Administration. If a student withdraws or stops attending before those timelines, all or a portion of their Department of Defense Tuition Assistance funds may be required to be repaid.

When Department of Defense Tuition Assistance funds are returned, the student may owe an amount back to the University as a result.

Procedure

All students receiving Department of Defense Tuition Assistance for the Army, Navy, Airforce and Marines will be reviewed each semester to confirm completion of courses.

If a student has not completed at least 60% in all courses, the percentage of tuition assistance to be refunded will be calculated based on last date of attendance or participation.

The calculation will be determined by the period of enrollment and how many days of attendance. The withdrawal date is determined based on one of the following:

• Official withdrawal by student or 
• Documented last date of attendance by instructor(s)

To determine the amount of tuition assistance earned up to the time of withdrawal/last date of attendance for full-semester courses, the University will divide the number of calendar days the student attended classes by the total number of calendar days in the semester (less any scheduled break of five days or more). The resulting percentage is then multiplied by the total Department of Defense Tuition Assistance funds that were disbursed for the semester. This calculation determines the amount of tuition assistance the student is allowed to keep. If the student has attended or participated through 60% of the enrollment period then the student has earned all of their tuition assistance. A variation of this calculation is used to determine how much tuition assistance the student earned if they are enrolled only in modular short courses that do not span the length of the semester. The enrollment period for modular courses is determined by the start and end date of all modular courses combined.

Rationale

The Department of Defense memorandum of understanding return policy for Department of Defense Tuition Assistance funds rules aligns with the return of unearned student aid rules applicable to Federal student aid as required under section 484B of the Department of Education Title IV of the Higher Education Act of 1965.