Students with a credit on their account may be eligible for a refund. Refund checks are not automatically issued; students must officially request them using the on-line refund request form found on the AU portal. If a student does not request a refund then the amount of the credit is applied to the next term. The Office of Student Accounts does not begin processing refunds until after the start of the term, after all charges have been paid, and after financial aid funds have been disbursed.

Students can receive their refund in the form of a paper check or can enter their bank account information on the student portal to receive their refund through direct deposit. Students must first enter their bank account information prior to requesting their refund in order to receive their refund via direct deposit. If students choose to receive their refund in the form of a paper check they can have the check mailed or indicate that they wish to pick up their refund check. Students who indicate that they wish to pick up their refund check must pick their check up at the Cashier's office located in Asbury 300. Please note that refund checks will not be mailed to campus addresses.

Credits that are a result of a Parent PLUS loan will be refunded directly to the parent who is the borrower on the loan. If a parent wishes to have the refund check made payable to their son or daughter they can do so by submitting an authorization in writing with their signature and a copy of a government issued picture ID. All authorizations must be submitted to the Office of Student Accounts. Parents can fax their authorization form to (202) 885-1139 and should make their authorization made to the attention of "Plus Loan Refund Processor". All faxed authorizations must include a government issued picture ID of the parent who is the borrower on the loan.

Refund requests are usually processed within five to seven business days from the submission of the refund request form or the posting of the credit, whichever is later. If the refund results from overpayment made by a personal check, the refund check will not be processed for at least fifteen business days (i.e. to verify check payment has cleared your bank). A credit on a student account for a current semester cannot be reimbursed after the payment due date has lapsed for the following semester. For example, if an overpayment exists on the student account for the Fall semester, a refund of the credit must be processed before the payment due date for the Spring semester. Credits not requested for refund will automatically go towards any new charges that may appear on the account. The one exception is a credit that is the result of a Federal Loan (or loans) which can be reimbursed to the student to the extent of the credit or loan amount, whichever is lower (as per Federal regulations).

Students may check if their refund has been processed using the "Student Snapshot" on the AU portal at https://myau.american.edu. Paper checks will be mailed or be made available for pick up (depending on your requested delivery method in your refund request) after 2:00pm the day after they post to the student account at the Cashier's Office in Student Accounts (Asbury 300, Main Campus). Students are required to show a photo ID when picking up a refund check. Students who choose Direct Deposit as their delivery method will receive an e-mail notifying them that the transaction has been initiated. Funds are usually deposited into a student's account 1-3 business days after receiving the e-mail notification.