Drop vs. withdraw

Drop charges are removed to indicate that the student never attended the class. The student is not eligible to receive financial aid, and any financial aid already credited to the student’s account based on the original course registration will be removed from the student’s account, which may create a balance due to the university.

Withdraw results in the academic grade of W. Charges are assessed and adjusted according to the University Refund Policy. Students may owe a balance to the university.

Refund of tuition and fees

The official university tuition and fees refund policy is applicable only for the fall and spring semesters. This table pertains to both complete withdrawals and reduced course loads for standard classes (excluding short/nonstandard courses). The policy is based on the weeks of the semester and not the class meeting days (if the semester begins on a Thursday, the first week of classes is from Thursday through the following Wednesday).

Refunds (reduction of charges) are calculated on a course-by-course, per-credit-hour basis, disregarding the full-time cap amounts and discounted tuition. Charges are recalculated based on the number of credit hours in which the student remains enrolled in addition to the nonrefundable percentage portion of credit hours for the withdrawn course(s). Students who are enrolled and withdraw from courses may not receive a reduction in charges.

• Students dropping/withdrawing from courses through the first week of class will be entitled to a 100 percent refund of tuition and fees.
• Students withdrawing from courses through the second week of class may be entitled to an 80 percent refund of tuition and the university fee.
• Students withdrawing from courses through the third week of class may be entitled to a 60 percent refund of tuition and the university fee.
• Students withdrawing from courses through the fourth week of class may be entitled to a 40 percent refund of tuition and the university fee.
• Students withdrawing from courses after the fourth week of class are not entitled to receive a refund of tuition and fees.

The refund policy and deadlines of the English Language Program are different from the university’s refund policy for academic courses. Details of the policy may be obtained from the English Language Program office.

A full refund for holiday intersession will be granted if the course is dropped before 4:30 p.m. on the day of the first class meeting. Partial refunds are not granted.

A full refund for a short/nonstandard course’s tuition and applicable fees will be granted if the course is dropped no later than the day following the first day of a given class. No refund of tuition and fees is given for withdrawals of short and nonstandard courses. Students should contact their program administrator for withdrawals from nonstandard classes that are longer than standard classes.

A full refund for summer tuition and applicable fees will be granted if the course is dropped no later than the day following the first day of a given class. (This policy also is applicable if the class does not meet on two consecutive days.) Students reducing their academic course loads to less than full-time (12 credits for undergraduates and nine credits for graduates) before the end of the last day to drop a course will be entitled to a refund of tuition and applicable fees reflecting the reduced course load. Partial refunds are not granted for the summer session.

Students who are financial aid recipients and withdraw from all courses prior to completing 60 percent of the semester are subject to the Federal Return of Title IV Funds Policy. For more details see Federal financial aid refund policy.

Refunds will be computed based on the actual withdrawal date certified by the Office of the University Registrar. Refunds will not be made to students who do not attend classes and have not completed the required withdrawal procedure. Refund processing may take approximately two to three weeks. Exceptions to this refund policy are made only in rare instances. Written application for an exception must be filed in the Student Accounting Department to the refund appeals committee within three years.

Refer to the Residential Housing contract and Dining Services’ terms and conditions for housing and dining services refunds.

Requests for refunds that are not generated from the overpayment of financial aid should be made in writing to: VCU Student Accounting Department, Box 843036, Richmond, VA 23284-3036. Refund request forms are available at the Student Services Center, 1015 Floyd Ave. and on the Student Accounting website.

In accordance with credit card regulations, the university will refund any credit balance that may result on a student’s account as the outcome of a credit card payment back to the credit card account. The remaining credit balance, if any, will be refunded to the student.

Students are responsible for paying any increase in charges that may occur after the generation of any refund.