Tuition and Fees Refund Policy

Applies to: Pittsburg State University students.

Policy:

Regulation

According to the Kansas State Board of Regents for Higher Education, institutions may refund in part or in full the tuition and fees paid by a student or on their behalf, who has withdrawn from the institution due to hardship or extraordinary circumstances. Students may only petition for refund of tuition and fees for courses in which they have officially withdrawn.

  • A student who withdraws during the first week of the semester for a full semester course will be refunded all tuition.
  • A student who withdraws after the first week but during the first one-third of a semester will be refunded one-half of tuition except for course fees, laboratory, and computer access fees.
  • A student who withdraws after the first one-third of a semester is not entitled to any refund.
  • Fees for private lessons are not refunded.
  • The refund policy shall apply to semesters. Prorated refunds will be applied to classes, or terms of shorter duration, including summer term. (See university calendar).

Withdrawals and refunds must be reviewed by several offices before being processed. Students should allow three weeks for approved refunds to be received. Funds are returned to the source from which they were initially received. If paid by credit card, refunds are returned to the same credit card. There are no refunds for 1-2 day courses or travel courses once the program has begun.

An appeal process is available to students who feel their situation warrants an exception from the stated fee refund policy. Students should complete the Tuition Refund Petition form that can be found on the Registrar's web page, under Forms, at https://www.pittstate.edu/registrar/forms.html.

Students with the following or similar conditions may qualify for refunds: 

  • A written verification from a recognized professional (e.g., physician) that the student must withdraw because of serious illness, injury or personal emergency of the student or a member of the immediate family.
  • A written verification from an appropriate representative or publication of the university proves that the student was given misinformation as to the correct deadline for receiving a refund of tuition and fees.
  • Official verification that the student attended another institution in addition to written verification from the instructors of record that the student never attended classes at PSU (the verification may state that the student neither submitted assignments nor completed examinations).
  • Other hardships or extraordinary circumstances that have arisen after the refund deadline.
  • A written verification from the student’s advisor or another official within their department that the student was misadvised and must be removed from the class(es) for failure to meet department/course requirements.

Reasons like those listed below will not result in approval for receiving a refund of tuition and fees after the deadline:

  • The student's lack of knowledge or misunderstanding of the deadline.
  • Waited past the deadline to receive a refund to obtain the results of an exam or other assignment.
  • The students’ grades have declined since the deadline to drop with any refund.
  • The student does not need the course for graduation.
  • Different deadlines existed at the previous school.
  • Non-attendance or non-participation in the class(es).

Deadline

This Tuition Refund Petition form must be received no later than three weeks after the end of the term for which a refund is being requested.

Procedure

Submit the completed Tuition Refund Petition form with supporting documentation for consideration by the review panel. The student will be notified of the committee's decision, typically within 2 weeks of receipt of petition.

If you receive federal financial aid, PSU may be legally required to return all or part of any refund to the US Department of Education.

Exclusions

Please note the online Professional MBA program and College of Education Session based programs are not included in the general refund policy. See the Online MBA Academic Calendar and College of Education calendar for important dates and deadlines.

Contact:

Registrar
103 Russ Hall
1701 South Broadway, Pittsburg, KS 66762
Phone: (620) 235-4200
e-mail: registrar@pittstate.edu
Registrar website

Graduate School
103 Russ Hall
1701 South Broadway, Pittsburg, KS 66762
Phone: (620) 235-4218
e-mail: grad@pittstate.edu
Graduate School website

Approved on: 05-06-2009, Graduate Council
Effective: 05-06-2009
Review cycle: As Needed
Change history:
  • Updated: 05-06-2009, 01-16-2026