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East Tennessee State University adheres to The Tennessee Board of Regents (TBR) system-wide policy for calculating fee adjustments and refunds. This refund policy primarily affects full-time students who adjust their schedules to part-time status, including complete withdrawal, after the conclusion of the 100% fee adjustment/refund period. Students will be assessed a pro-rated fee for the dropped hours. TBR policy is available online (see sectionXII. Refunds).

Students are encouraged to better plan their schedules and retain their full-time status on their way to a timely and successful graduation. The fee adjustment policy provides for three fee adjustment periods and is based entirely upon the official date of withdrawal or change of course which would result in a recalculation of fees. Students who need to drop any courses or withdraw from the University should do so before the start of classes for the term to ensure that no registration fees are owed. Please see the Tuition and Fee Payments and Calendars for specific refund/adjustment periods for each part-of-term. 

Full-time students benefit from a reduced fee assessment rate for tuition, and out-of-state fees calculations during the Fall and Spring Terms (full-time is considered 12 hours for undergraduates and 10 hours for graduates). Other fees, such as course fees, material fees, TN eCampus are assessed at a per-hour rate, with no maximum, and are not subject to any reduced rates. Note: Summer tuition and out-of-state fees are assessed at the full per-hour rate, with no maximum.

Fee Adjustment Calculations

The fee adjustment calculations are based on the courses dropped; therefore, not all schedule adjustments will result in a reduced fee assessment after the fee adjustment calculation. Fee adjustment estimator calculations are approximate. Actual adjustment amounts may vary based on individual student enrollment. To calculate fee adjustments under this policy, the following formula will be used:

 [((# Hours Dropped * Multiplier) + # Hours Remaining) * (Per Hour Rate)] – (prior fee assessment) = Potential Fee Adjustment/Refund 

Formula Breakdown:
Billing Hours = ((# Hours Dropped * Multiplier) + # Hours Remaining)
(Billing Hours * Per Hour Rate) = How much the Student Owes for the term
How much the student owes – (prior fee assessment) = Potential Fee Adjustment/Refund 

Dropped Class Refunds

Tuition Refunds for Dropped Classes takes several weeks to process. There are over a 1,000 refunds to process and the tuition amounts have to be verified, financial aid has to be reviewed and adjusted if necessary, and the refund itself has to be processed. Any outstanding balances will be deducted from the tuition and fee credits before a refund is processed. 

If a student is due a refund from a dropped course(s), the refund will be processed as follows:

• If paid with financial aid, the aid may be adjusted based on hours enrolled and the tuition credit will be applied back to the aid that paid for the courses. If eligibility has not changed based on hours enrolled, the refund will be sent direct deposit or by check if not signed up for direct deposit.
• If paid with a credit card, the drop credit will be refunded back to the credit card used to pay for tuition and fees. If paid with a debit card in person, the refund will be processed either by direct deposit or by check if the student is not signed up for direct deposit.
• If paid with webcheck, check, money order or cash, the refund will be processed either by direct deposit or by check if the student is not signed up for direct deposit. 

Refund Policy – Rules & Exclusions

The 100% fee adjustment period is applicable for students who withdraw from the University or drop below full-time status prior to the first day of classes for the semester, not the first day that a particular course meets.

A full (100%) fee adjustment of mandatory fees will be provided to students called to active military or National Guard service during the semester. Housing and meal ticket charges may be prorated based on usage. A full (100%) fee adjustment will also be provided for courses cancelled by the University or in the case of the death of the student during the semester. Please go to the Office of Financial Aid website for specific information on the return of federal financial aid funds for students who withdraw from the University.

The 75% fee adjustment period is applicable for students who withdraw from the University or drop below full-time status on the first day of classes for the term through the fourteenth calendar day of the semester for fall and spring terms. The 75% fee adjustment period is modified for summer and other short terms.

The 25% fee adjustment period is applicable for students who withdraw from the University or drop below full-time status after the 75% fee adjustment period ends through 25% of the full term. The 25% fee adjustment period is modified for summer and other short terms. 

NOTE: NO REFUND WILL BE PROVIDED AFTER THE APPROPRIATE 25% REFUND DATE. 

Changes in courses involving the adding and/or dropping of the same number of credit hours for the same part of term will neither require additional fees nor be subject to any fee adjustments based on this policy, other than what may result from dropping/adding courses from different programs that may have special program fees (such as Arts, Business, Nursing, Digital Media, and/or Developmental Studies Program courses). 

A term (or semester) is defined as a "Spring" term, a "Fall" term, or a "Summer" term. A Part-of-Term (POT) is defined as any part of the term/semester. For the Spring and Fall terms, there is a "full" POT that meets from August–December/January–May. The TN eCampus POT meets concurrently with the full POT. Summer terms/semesters have pre-summer, pre-summer plus first session, complete session, TNeCampus, dual session, first session, and second session. 

Changes in courses from one POT (Full, 1st, 2nd, TNeCampus) to another POT (Full, 1st, 2nd, TNeCampus) within a major term (Fall/Spring/Summer) will be subject to the fee adjustment periods and rates under this policy. Fee adjustments beyond the specified dates/percentages indicated above will not be made for reasons such as employee conflicts, health or medical problem, moving out of town, or other reasons beyond the University's control or responsibility. 

Any potential fee adjustment is calculated on the student’s original total enrollment fee assessment, less the registration fee amount due after course/schedule adjustment. Therefore, students who satisfy fees using the Installment Payment Plan may still have a balance due the University for unpaid fee amounts despite their withdrawal from some or all of their classes. 

The University will offset against proposed refunds any amount owed by the student to the University. Please note, credit card payments will be refunded first if the credit card transaction occurred in the past 30 days.  Students who have established an eRefund account will have any refund direct deposited into the bank account on file in GoldLink. Students who have not established an eRefund account will have a paper check mailed to the student’s mailing address on file with the University.