Refund Policy

Incoming Students

Students who are accepted to attend the College and cancel their admission/fail to complete the acceptance process will not be eligible for a refund. The acceptance fee (which includes the Health/Technology/Services Fee and security deposit) is non-refundable as stated in the acceptance documents.

Resident Students

Current students who officially withdraw BEFORE classes begin will receive a refund of 100% for Health/Technology/Services Fee, Room, Board, and the Security Deposit (designed to reimburse the College for damages to a residence hall room or furnishings), less any assessment for damage or other amounts due. Students who officially withdraw AFTER classes begin will receive refunds as indicated below:

Cost of Education, Work, and Room Charge: Charges will be pro-rated based on date of withdrawal up to 60% of each semester. After this deadline, no refund will be made. Scholarship funds credited to the student’s account because of participation in the summer work scholarship program are credited only to room and board; these funds are never refunded but will be applied against any future room and/or board at the College.

Meal Charges: Charges will be pro-rated based on date of withdrawal, throughout the semester.

Health/Technology/Services Fee: No refund will be made for official withdrawal on or after the first day of the semester. Additionally, the Health/Technology/Services Fee will not be refunded to students who fail to appear for class without an official withdrawal.

Security Deposit: Refund will be made for official withdrawal or cancellation of admission throughout the semester, provided the check-out procedure has been completed with the R. A. (Resident Assistant).

Commuting Students

Students who officially withdraw BEFORE classes begin will receive a refund of 100% for Cost of Education and Health/Technology/Services Fee charges, less any other amounts due. Students who officially withdraw AFTER classes begin will receive refunds as indicated below:

Cost of Education, Part-Time Class Charges, and Work Charges: Charges will be pro-rated based on date of withdrawal, up to 60% of each semester. After this deadline, no refund will be made.

Refund distribution for all resident and commuting students will be made in the following order: Federal Pell Grant, Federal Supplemental Educational Opportunity Grant, other federal sources of aid, state aid, private and institutional sources. If the student made the payment to the College in cash, the refund will be made to the student. If the payment was made by scholarship from an outside organization, the refund will be made to the awarding organization. If the payment was made by a scholarship from College of the Ozarks, the scholarship will be canceled.

All financial obligations to the College must be cleared before the student can receive a diploma or transcript.

Change of Status Refund Policy

Full-time students who drop to part-time status after the fifth (5th) day of the semester are liable for the full 280 hours of student labor (which may either be worked or paid in cash at the discretion of the Dean of Work Education). Any change in status must be approved by the Dean of Admissions in advance. Students who are approved for off-campus status during the current semester are responsible for paying the full amount of room and board that semester.

Duplicate Scholarship Refund Policy

In the event that a student is awarded duplicate room and board scholarships (either full or partial), the resulting credit in the student’s account may be used as follows:

to cover room and board charges, Cost of Education (if the student becomes part-time), Health/Technology/Services Fees, and to buy books.
request the scholarship be applied to following semester, as applicable.

Federal Title IV Refund Policy

Purpose
In order to be eligible for and retain Federal Student Aid funds, students must maintain enrollment in classes for the entire semester. Failure to do so results in a recalculation of aid funds and may result in a return of unearned Federal Student Aid Funds.
Policy
In accordance to Federal Student Aid regulations, College of the Ozarks has established procedures to allow for the recalculation of Federal Student Aid Return of Title IV Funds (R2T4) for students who officially or unofficially withdraw from classes.
Procedures
1. Determination of Withdrawal or Failure of Classes
2. The amount of federal student aid earned by the student will be recalculated if the student:
3. completely withdraws from the College, or
4. ceases attendance in classes before the semester is completed, or
5. does not complete all classes for the semester, or
6. fails all classes for the semester, or
7. fails and drops all classes for the semester
Determination of Withdrawal Dates
The withdrawal date used for official withdrawals for the R2T4 calculation will be:
1. ?the official date of withdrawal as recorded by the Registrar’s Office.
  The withdrawal date used for unofficial withdrawals for the R2T4 calculation will be:
2. the last date of attendance (LDA), as recorded by the institution
3. if an LDA is unavailable, the midpoint of the semester will be used as the LDA
  - Note: the LDA is recorded by the faculty member based on actual attendance of the last date the student was involved with an academically related activity.
Earned and Unearned Federal Student Aid Funds
A student earns a percentage of student aid (earned aid) each day the student attends classes.
1. If a student attends classes for at least 60% of the semester, the R2T4 calculation will be used to determine the amount of aid earned.
2. If a student attends classes less than 60% of the semester, the R2T4 calculation will be used to determine the amount of aid earned.
3. If Federal Student Aid funds have been credited to the student’s account, and the student attended less than 60% of the semester, the student’s account will be debited for the appropriate ineligible amount of aid (unearned aid).
4. If a student’s account is credited with Federal student Aid funds, and the institution learns the student never attended classes, all Federal Student Aid funds will be returned to the appropriate program.
Failing Grades
Financial aid is paid with the expectation that the student will attend for the entire semester and receive a passing grade for classes attended or, if a class is failed, have attended the entire semester and simply failed the class.
1. A student must pass at least one class for the semester. Otherwise, the institution must determine if the student established eligibility for the aid funds disbursed via attendance and/or participated in an academically related activity as is also noted in (C)(2).
2. Unless the student attended for the entire semester, if all classes are failed and/or dropped, an R2T4 calculation must be performed using the LDA.
3. Once all grades are posted for the semester, the financial aid office will determine which students are subject to R2T4 calculations and collect the appropriate LDA information.
Notification of R2T4 Results
A notification regarding the amount of earned and unearned Federal Student Aid funds determined via the R2T4 calculation will be mailed to the student.
1. Unearned funds will be debited (charged) to the students account at the College.
Return of Federal Student Aid Funds
Any funds determined to be returned to Federal Student Aid will be done so by the College in the following order:
1. Federal Pell Grant
2. Federal Supplemental Educational Opportunity Grant
Refund Calculation Example
In order to provide a clearer understanding of how an R2T4 calculation may impact a student, the following example is provided.

A student begins attendance in classes for a semester with 108 days in the semester. The student is scheduled to receive a Federal Pell Grant in the amount of $2,887, as a full-time student. After completing 23 days of the semester, the student withdraws from classes. Since the student completed 21.3% of the days in the semester (23/108 = 21.3%), the student is eligible for 21.3% of the Federal Pell Grant awarded or $614.93 (2,887 x 21.3% = $614.93).

In the example above, if the student has not received any of the Federal Pell Grant funds, the $614.93 is applied towards the student’s account balance at the College. The ineligible amount of $2,245.07 must be repaid to the Federal Pell Grant Program.