Tuition & Fees: Policies

OBLIGATION FOR PAYMENT

Enrollment constitutes a financial contract between you and the University. Your rights to university services and benefits are contingent upon your making all payments as agreed upon. If you fail to make payments owed to the university when they become due, the university has the right to cancel your registration and/or administratively withdraw you from the current term, withhold your grades, diplomas, scholastic certificates and degrees, and impound your final exams. If you fail to maintain good financial standing with the university, you will become ineligible for any deferred payment plans and/or some forms of financial aid. In addition, if your balance becomes delinquent, it will be reported to the credit agencies, which may impact your credit rating.

 

Prior Balances

Prior to registering for a new term, you must pay any outstanding balances from any preceding terms. If you do not pay your outstanding balances or make payment arrangements satisfactory to the university, you will not be permitted to register. This policy applies to any outstanding balances with Golden Gate University, including those with the Golden Gate University Bookstore, or any other company that operates a concession or service contracted by the university.

 

Payment Due Date

To complete the enrollment process, you must pay your registration charges (tuition and fees) in-full by means of one of the university's accepted payment options or qualify for an alternate financing option by the payment due date for the term as published in the Academic Calendar. Failure to do so may result in cancellation of your registration.

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WITHDRAWAL TUITION CREDIT POLICY (REFUND POLICY)

Enrollment constitutes a financial contract between you and the University. You are responsible for paying all registration charges by the due date for the term per the Academic Calendar or by the due dates for the financing option you select, or your registration may be canceled. Failure to attend class meetings, participate in an online course, or oral notification of intent to withdraw is not considered official withdrawal from a course.

The following financial policies apply when students officially withdraw from courses. Withdrawal from a course (commonly known as "dropping" if done by the end of the third week of the term) is official once the university registrar has been notified. Notification must be in writing by "dropping" the course online via GGU4YOU, by sending an email to registration@ggu.edu, or by submission of a Registration Request from, which may be made delivered in-person to the Registrar's Office, by standard mail, by fax or by email. If notification is made by email, the message must originate from the student's email address on record with the university. The date the written notice is received will be the official withdrawal date. Oral (spoken) notification of intent to withdraw is insufficient.

Tuition will be credited as shown below. Fees are not credited except in the case of a course being canceled by the university. Tuition credits remain in the student's account. Payments of credit balances are issued upon written request from the student as described in the Credit Balance Payment Policy. If you are a Federal Student Aid recipient who withdraws from completely from the payment period (typically a trimester term), you will be subject to the Return of Federal Student Aid Policy calculations. Golden Gate University may be required to return funds for which you are no longer eligible based on these calculations. This may leave you owing a balance to the university.

Standard Refund Formula

One week of instruction is defined as the seven-day period that commences at midnight on the start date of the course section. The following refund formula applies to all students residing outside of the State of Oregon:

WEEK OF INSTRUCTION	AMOUNT OF CREDIT
Week one through end of week three	100% Credit
Week four to end of term	0%

Oregon Resident Refund Formula

The following refund formula applies to all students residing in the State of Oregon:

TRIMESTER TERM (15-WEEK) COURSE REFUND FORMULA
WITHDRAWAL BY END OF WEEK OF INSTRUCTION	AMOUNT OF CREDIT
Week 1	100% Credit
Week 2	100% Credit
Week 3	100% Credit
Week 4	80% Credit
Week 5	75% Credit
Week 6	70% Credit
Week 7	65% Credit
Week 8	60% Credit
After End of Week 8	0% Credit
SUB-TRIMESTER TERM (7.5-WEEK) COURSE REFUND FORMULA
WITHDRAWAL BY END OF WEEK OF INSTRUCTION	AMOUNT OF CREDIT
Week 1	100% Credit
Week 2	100% Credit
Week 3	100% Credit
Week 4	60% Credit
After End of Week 4	0% Credit

When dropping or withdrawing from courses via GGU4YOU, you will be asked to complete a short survey to specify the reason for withdrawal as part of the "drop" process. This data will be kept confidential and will be used to improve customer service and quality.

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CREDIT BALANCE PAYMENT POLICY

Payment of a credit balance resulting from tuition adjustment in accordance with the above stated Withdrawal Tuition Credit Policy will be made if requested in writing by the student. Requests should be sent to Student Accounting Services at sas@ggu.edu. Payments are processed either as a direct deposit to the student's checking or savings account or as a paper check mailed to the student's address on record in the university's student information system. It is recommended that you request direct deposit of the refund as it is the most efficient and expeditious way to receive a refund. To sign up for direct deposit you must provide your bank account information via our secure website. To get started, login to myGGU and select "Update My Bank Information" from the "Finances" menu.

If you are a financial aid recipient who withdraws completely from all courses in a given payment period, the amount of the resulting credit balance for which you are eligible must be calculated in accordance with the Return of Federal Student Aid Policy. Financial Aid funds are typically returned to the appropriate financial aid program or lender.

No refunds will be made by virtue of curtailment of services brought about as a result of strikes, natural disasters, civil insurrection, riots or the threats thereof, or other causes beyond the control of the university.

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RETURN OF FEDERAL STUDENT AID POLICY

Recipients of U.S. Department of Education Home Federal Student Aid (FSA) who withdraw completely from all of their courses for a payment period (typically a trimester term) must notify the Financial Aid Office by e-mail at finaid@ggu.edu after submitting the proper withdrawal notification to the Registrar's Office. Students are deemed to have withdrawn completely from a payment period by taking any of the following actions: dropping or withdrawing from all enrolled courses by the "Last Day to Withdraw" as specified in the Academic Calendar, receiving “UW grades in all enrolled courses, receiving “F” grades in all enrolled courses with last dates of attendance prior to the term’s end date, or any combination of the three. When students withdraw completely from a payment period, U.S. Department of Education regulations specify the method that GGU must use to determine the amount of Federal Student Aid assistance the student has earned. The following Federal Student Aid programs are subject to this policy: Federal Pell Grants, Direct Loans, Direct PLUS Loans, and Federal Supplemental Education Opportunity Grants (FSEOG).

The amount of assistance earned is determined on a pro-rata basis. For example, if a student completes 30% of the payment period, the student will have earned 30% of the assistance the student was originally scheduled to receive. Once the student has completed more than 60% of the payment period, the student has earned all the assistance that the student was scheduled to receive for that period. Students who withdraw completely before 60% of the payment period has elapsed may end up owing a balance to GGU after their unearned Federal Student Aid funds have been returned to the U.S. Department of Education.

Federal financial aid awarded to the student and not earned at the time of the effective date of withdrawal or leave of absence will be returned to the Federal Student Financial Aid program from which it was received. Both the student and the university may be required to return all or a portion of the federal financial aid disbursed for the specified payment period. For withdrawal procedures, students should refer to the university’s Withdrawal Tuition Credit Policy.

The University is required to return unearned Federal Student Aid funds to the U.S. Department of Education as soon as possible, and no later than 45 days after determining that the student has withdrawn. 

The University will determine if a student is eligible for part or all the student’s Federal Student Aid award that has not been disbursed by the withdrawal date. If the student is eligible for a post-withdrawal disbursement of Federal Student Aid grant funds, the university will disburse the grants to the student account within 45 days of the date of determination of withdrawal. If the student is eligible for a post-withdrawal disbursement of Federal Student Aid loans, the university will notify the student of their eligibility within 30 days. The student will have at least 14 days to respond whether they want to receive the post-withdrawal disbursement of loan funds.

If financial aid funds must be returned to the Federal Student Aid programs, loan funds will be returned before grant funds. Funds are returned in the following order:

1. Direct Unsubsidized Loans
2. Direct Subsidized Loans
3. Direct PLUS Loan/Direct Graduate PLUS Loan
4. Federal Pell Grant
5. Federal Supplemental Educational Opportunity Grant (FSEOG)
6. Other assistance programs authorized by Title IV of the Higher Education Assistance Act

If the Return of Federal Student Aid calculation for the withdrawal results in a credit balance on the student's account, the university will disburse the credit balance as a refund within 14 calendar days of when the credit balance was created. If a tuition adjustment occurs after the return of Federal Student Aid funds has occurred that produces a credit balance on the student’s account, the credit balance payment will be issued to the student. The student may request Direct Loan funds to be returned to the U.S. Department of Education to reduce the student’s outstanding loan balance. For additional credit balance payment information, students should refer to the Credit Balance Payment Policy.

Federal Student Aid  recipients should consult with the Financial Aid Office at 415-442-7270 or finaid@ggu.edu before making schedule changes after FSA funds have been disbursed to their accounts. They are strongly encouraged to consult with a Financial Aid advisor before dropping/withdrawing if:

• They intend to withdraw completely from the academic period by dropping (or withdrawing from) all courses; OR
• Less than 60% of the payment period (trimester) has elapsed.

60% of a trimester is approximately ten weeks; 60% of an 7.5-week term is approximately five weeks. Students may refer Academic Calendar to determine the "Last Day to Withdraw" from a course for a given term.

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FINANCIAL PETITION

If you are confronted with an unexpected and serious circumstance that requires you to withdraw from your courses, you may submit a Financial Petition to the Financial Petition Committee to reverse a portion of your tuition charges. Your petition should explain, in detail, the circumstances, the correlation between these circumstances and the need for you to withdraw from the course(s), and what actions you have taken to resolve or prevent such an event from occurring in subsequent terms. In addition, you must provide any relevant third-party documentation. The university will not consider petitions that are undocumented or that are based upon preexisting conditions. All petitions must be submitted to the Office of Student Accounting Services no later than 60 days after the last day of the term in which the course(s) was dropped.

The university will respond to all petitions in writing. You should allow a minimum of 10 working days to hear from us as we are required to verify all facts from university sources prior to review by the Financial Petition Committee. If your petition is approved and any adjustments to your tuition result in a credit balance on your account, the university will apply this credit balance toward future tuition charges within the next twelve-month period. If you are a financial aid recipient and you have a financial petition approved, credit balances typically are refunded to the appropriate financial aid program or lender.

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STUDENT ACCOUNT DISPUTES

All disputes concerning student accounts should be submitted in writing to: Student Accounting Services, Golden Gate University, 536 Mission Street, San Francisco, CA 94105-2968 or sas@ggu.edu. The university will respond within 30 working days of receipt of the student's letter or e-mail.