Refund Process
Our refund process occurs every day, and any account activity that results in a refund will be processed within 3 business days to the student's specified bank account. At the beginning of each new term, we refund once before the drop/add period begins and then do not refund again until after the drop/add period has ended. At this point, our usual refund schedule commences for the rest of the term.
The university processes refunds to students’ domestic bank of choice. All students enrolled in direct deposit will have their refunds automatically processed. Students who do not enroll in direct deposit and have a credit balance from a non-federal source will not receive their refund until they enroll in direct deposit. At the end of each term students who have not enrolled in direct deposit will have a refund check issued and mailed. Students who do not enroll in direct deposit and have a credit balance from a federal source will have their refund held for 3 days. If students do not enroll in direct deposit during this 3-day period a refund check will be issued and mailed.
When will I get my refund?
You will receive a refund if your financial aid award is greater than the charges that can be paid with financial aid on your MyFSU bill, or if you or a third party overpays your bill.
While refunds are generated almost every day, processing times vary by bank. Keep in mind that it may take your bank two to three days to process your funds after we've refunded them. You will receive an email from FSU when your refund is generated in our system.
How do I make sure that I get my financial aid as quickly as possible?
Enroll in direct deposit and register for classes early. You don’t have to sign up to receive disbursements early; you just have to be registered and otherwise eligible by the early disbursement cutoff to qualify to receive your financial aid early. Remember: Some financial aid requires that you be enrolled in a minimum number of hours to receive funding—federal financial fid (originating from the FAFSA) requires at least six hours of enrollment!
When you enroll in direct deposit, you are only giving us access to deposit funds in the account of your choosing. We will never take funds from that account. You can find more information about enrolling in direct deposit here.
Note: When your financial aid is disbursed, this means that the aid has been applied to your FSU account to pay charges, not that any excess funds have been refunded to you.
Also, be sure that you check your To Do List early and submit any requested documents to the Office of Financial Aid early enough before the start of term to allow sufficient time for review. Click here to visit the website of the Office of the Financial Aid.
How will I receive my refund if my address needs to be updated?
If the refund was sent to a wrong address, fill out a Stop Payment Request with the correct address.
It is important to update your address with FSU whenever you move. Visit our website here to find out how to update your address in MyFSU. This will ensure all physical correspondence from FSU is delivered in a timely manner and to the correct address.
