For-profit schools may be required to adopt the Iowa tuition refund policy pursuant to Iowa Code 714.23. The refund policy affects the tuition charges the school assesses, regardless of whether and to what extent those charges have been paid by the student or any other source.
Important Authorization Details
Iowa Tuition Refund Policy
Iowa Code 714.23 describes specific tuition refund policies that apply to for-profit schools. Detailed information about these formulas is provided in the attachments below:
Nonstandard Policy
The nonstandard policy applies to for-profit schools whose cohort default rate for students, under the Direct Loan Program, as reported by the U.S. Department of Education for the most recent federal fiscal year, is more than the higher of the following:
- 110% of the national average cohort default rate of all schools; or
- 6%
Policy Components:
A for-profit school shall refund all tuition charges to a student who withdraws within the first two calendar weeks of instruction.
A for-profit school shall make a pro rata refund of tuition charges to a student who withdraws from any of the school’s postsecondary educational programs or courses after the first two calendar weeks in an amount that is not less than ninety-five percent of the amount of tuition charged to the student multiplied by the ratio of the number of calendar days remaining in the school period to the total number of calendar days in the school period.
If a student withdraws from a postsecondary educational program after the first two calendar weeks due to the student’s physical incapacity or, for a program that requires classroom instruction, due to the transfer of the student’s spouse’s employment to another city, the withdrawing student shall receive a refund of the tuition charges in an amount that equals the amount of tuition charged to the student multiplied by the ratio of the remaining number of calendar days in the school period to the total number of calendar days in the school period.
A refund of tuition charges shall be provided to the student within forty-five days following the date of the school’s determination that a student has withdrawn from a postsecondary educational program.
Nonstandard Policy Scenario (111.83 KB) .pdf link here
Standard Policy
The standard policy applies to all other for-profit schools or for-profit schools that do not participate in the Direct Loan Program.
Policy Components:
A for-profit school shall refund all tuition charges to a student who withdraws within the first two calendar weeks of instruction.
A for-profit school shall make a pro rata refund of tuition charges to a student who withdraws from any of the school’s postsecondary educational programs or courses after the first two calendar weeks, in an amount that is not less than ninety-five percent of the amount of tuition charged to the student multiplied by the ratio of the number of calendar days remaining in the school period to the total number of calendar days in the school period.
If a withdrawing student has completed sixty percent or more of a school period, the school offering the postsecondary educational program is not required to refund tuition charges to the student.
If a student withdraws from a postsecondary educational program after the first two calendar weeks due to the student’s physical incapacity or, for a program that requires classroom instruction, due to the transfer of the student’s spouse’s employment to another city, the withdrawing student shall receive a refund of the tuition charges in an amount that equals the amount of tuition charged to the student multiplied by the ratio of the remaining number of calendar days in the school period to the total number of calendar days in the school period.
A refund of tuition charges shall be provided to the student within forty-five days following the date of the school’s determination that a student has withdrawn from a postsecondary educational program.
Standard Policy Scenario (117.67 KB) .pdf link here
Notes
- Iowa law prescribes no rounding procedures. Schools should develop a set of rounding rules that the school applies consistently to all students. Iowa College Aid reserves the right to review the school’s application of its rounding rules.
- In the case of a program in which student progress is measured only in clock hours, all occurrences of “calendar days” shall be replaced with “scheduled clock hours”.
- A for-profit school that assesses tuition charges to the student at the beginning of each course, term, payment period, or other period that is shorter than the postsecondary educational program’s length shall base its tuition refund on the amount of tuition costs the school charged for the course, term, or other period in which the student withdrew. A school shall not base its tuition refund calculation on any portion of a postsecondary educational program that remains after a student withdraws unless the student was charged for that remaining portion of the postsecondary educational program before the student’s withdrawal and the student began attendance in the school term or course. Note: Payment period means the same as set forth in 34 C.F.R. §668.4.
- A student who withdraws from a postsecondary educational program shall not be charged any fee or other monetary penalty for terminating the postsecondary educational program, other than a reduction in tuition refund as specified above.
Questions?
Contact the Postsecondary Authorization Team.