Credit Balance Refunds

What is a Credit Balance?

A credit balance is the result of payments, including the transmittal of financial aid, on a student's account exceeding charges. If there is a credit balance after all payments have been posted to the account, that amount can be transferred to the student's checking account via eRefund, which is setup on Student Account Center.  If eRefund has not been setup, the check will be mailed to the student's mailing address of record as shown on mySeattleU (where students can also go to update that address). Credit balance checks are not mailed until the first day of the quarter, receipt of these checks may be delayed up to 10 days if the student hasn't provided a current, local mailing address.

A credit balance on a student's account that is the result of Estimated Financial Aid being deducted from the charges on the account, is not a true credit balance until the financial aid is actually disbursed.  Thus, it is not available to the student until all financial aid for the quarter has been posted to the student's account.

An eRefund direct deposit or check will automatically be generated if:

  • There is a credit balance for the current term.  This occurs when payments and/or financial aid actually disbursed (not pending or estimated aid) exceed charges
  • There are no other balances due to the University
  • The student is a financial aid recipient and is registered for at least as many credit hours as are shown on the financial aid award letter
  • A Parent PLUS Loan is not included in the student's financial aid award

An eRefund direct deposit or check will NOT automatically be generated if:

  • A check overpayment was made on the student's account within the last 10 business days
  • The student is not currently enrolled
  • The term with the pending credit has not yet begun 

If you believe a refund on your account should have generated but it has not, please contact Student Financial Services for resolution.

There is a 21 day holding period for credits that result from an overpayment from a check or online e-check. 

Setting up Direct Deposit for Refunds

eRefunds direct deposit authorization allows the credit balance on a student's account, after all charges there have been paid, to be sent directly to the student's bank account. We recommend using this option in order to receive your funds as quickly as possible. For students who anticipate credit balance refunds after all charges on their student account have been covered, direct deposit is the quickest way to receive those funds. 

1. Log into mySeattleu at https://my.seattleu.edu/Student/Account/Login

2. Select Student Account Center

4. Select the blue button for Student Account Center again (please avoid using Safari as your browser)

5. Wait for the screen to load then select Refunds at the top of the page to start the process of adding a United States bank account for refunds to be sent to

To ensure funds are available by the first day of the quarter, their financial aid needs to be finalized (all paperwork completed, submitted and processed) 30 days prior to the start of the quarter. 

For students who choose not to set up eRefunds, credit balances will be processed as checks which are mailed to those students' mailing address of record at mySeattleU, where they can also go to update that address as needed.  To update the mailing address, log on to MySeattleU and click on User Options then User Profile using the left-hand menu. 

Post-Withdrawal Refunds

For information about refund dates and amounts, please see the Refunds of Tuition and Fees (75-09) policy.

Seattle University is required to return "unearned" aid to federal and state sources as explained in Withdrawing from Some Classes or Withdrawing from All Classes, depending on the student's situation. Seattle University-sponsored aid will be returned to its source based on the refund percentage due based on the official date of the student's withdrawal.

If most of the student's costs were covered by financial aid, most of their refund will be returned to those aid programs, with any remaining balance being refunded to the student.