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Student Account Refunds

Student Account Refunds 

Financial aid applied to a student account that exceeds the amount a student has been charged results in a credit balance that may be refunded to the student. All financial aid is applied directly to the students account prior to the first day of class or once all financial aid requirements are fulfilled to receive the funds.

Due to federal regulations, eligible financial aid may be disbursed to the student’s account no earlier than ten (10) business days prior to the first day of each semester. External scholarships that are not received before the start of the semester will be applied as they are received.

Funds are disbursed in equal installments during the academic year based on your academic calendar.  Online & Continuing Education student refunds cannot be processed until after meaningful interaction in your classes for the semester have been verified; typically, four (4) weeks into the semester.

Linfield University begins refunding credit balances beginning on the first day of classes each semester as required by federal regulations. Refunds are processed by the Student Accounts Office once per week beginning in the first week of the semester. Refunds will not be issued before the first day of class.

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 disbursed. Thus, it is NOT available to the student until all financial aid for the quarter has been posted to the student's account. 

Refund Methods

Students are required to select a "refund preference" on their Nelnet Student Account Portal to receive student account refunds.

Nelnet Student Account Portal 
  • Direct Deposit (this is the fastest way to receive your funds)
    • Can be deposited to a checking/savings account or a debit card of your choice.
  • Paper Check (defaulted method if a preference is not chosen)
    • Can take up to 14 Business days to receive.
    • Paper checks are mailed to those students' home mailing address of record with Linfield University.

Setting Up Direct Deposit as your Refund Preference

To set up direct deposit, go to your Nelnet Student Account Portal, select the "Refunds" option and set your “Refund Preference” to Direct Deposit. 

Direct deposit authorization allows the credit balance on a student's account after all charges have been paid, to be sent directly to the student's bank account. 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. 

Nelnet Authorized Party Parent Portal

* Parent Plus Loan Refunds *

Linfield University processes all Parent Plus Loan refunds directly to the borrower in the form of a check payment to their mailing address on file. Federal regulations require that credit balances resulting from a Federal Direct Parent PLUS Loan be refunded to the borrower unless authorization is on file allowing the funds to be released to the student. An authorization must be on file for each Federal Direct Parent PLUS Loan borrowed. Parents will have the option to set up direct deposit in their own Authorized Party Nelnet account once they have a Parent refund issued for the first time. An email notification will be sent to the Authorized Parent informing them they have 24 hours to change their Parent Plus Refund method to a direct deposit. Once this is set up all future parent refunds would go to that refund preference unless you change it.

Refunds will automatically be processed if:

  • There is a credit balance for the current semester. This occurs when payments and/or disbursed financial aid exceeds charges.
  • There are no other balances due to the University.

Refunds will NOT automatically be processed if:

  • The student withdrew or took a leave of absence and has pending adjustments to housing, meal plans, and Title IV funds. Processing time for enrollment changes is 2-3 weeks.
  • The student is not enrolled in the current semester.
  • The semester with the pending credit has not yet begun.

If you believe a refund on your account should have been generated but it has not, please contact the Student Accounts Office at student.accounts@linfield.edu for resolution.