Withdrawal-Drop Adjustments of Academic Fees Policy
Tuition and Fees Adjustment Policy
For Students Withdrawing or Dropping Credit Hours
Students who are admitted and register for courses at Clemson University are financially responsible for all fees associated with those courses. Therefore, students are encouraged to complete all courses for which they register. If it becomes necessary for a student to drop one or more courses or completely withdraw from the University, a withdrawal or drop adjustment of academic fees may be made.
Warning! Withdrawing from the University may be costly. It may affect the student’s financial and academic status.
No withdrawal or drop adjustment of academic fees will be made to a semester’s tuition and fees after four weeks from the last day to register. In the case of a withdrawal from the University, adjustments will be based on the date the student drops their course(s) using the online registration system. In the case of a dropped course, adjustments will be based on the date the student drops the course using the online registration system. The student’s course drop must post prior to the beginning of the next Fall or Spring semester or subsequent summer term to be eligible for an adjustment. Adjustments for periods of four weeks or less during the Fall or Spring semester shall be made on the following basis beginning with the day following the last day to register. Students receiving Title IV Financial Aid follow a different policy.
Period of Enrollment and Adjustment Percentage
| Fall/Spring Semester Period of Enrollment |
Adjustment Percentage For Liable Hours |
|---|---|
| Registration day(s) in the published academic calendar | 100% |
| After the last day to register: one week or less | 80% |
| More than 1 but not more than 2 weeks | 60% |
| More than 2 but not more than 3 weeks | 40% |
| More than 3 but not more than 4 weeks | 20% |
| More than 4 weeks | 0% |
Enrollment Term Periods
| Parts of Term Period of Enrollment |
Less than 3 weeks | 3 Weeks | 5-6 Weeks | More than 6 weeks |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Registration day(s) in the published academic calendar | 100% | 100% | 100% | 100% |
| After the last day to register: one week or less | 0% | 40% | 60% | 60% |
| More than 1 but not more than 2 weeks | 0% | 0% | 20% | 40% |
| More than 2 but not more than 3 weeks | 0% | 0% | 0% | 20% |
| More than 3 weeks | 0% | 0% | 0% | 0% |
In the event the University must suspend or close due to force majeure, no tuition or fees and/or financial aid adjustment shall be made. “Force majeure” shall mean any cause or event outside the University’s control and may include war, flood, storm, epidemic or financial necessity.
Change in Instructional Method
Clemson University reserves the right to change the delivery of its courses at any time to partial or total online delivery without penalty due to circumstances beyond the University’s control, including but not limited to natural disasters (e.g., tornado, earthquake, flood, hurricane, etc.), war, terrorist act, strike, public health outbreak (e.g., pandemic or wide-spread and/or infectious disease outbreak), fire, the release of nuclear material or dangerous substance into the environment or other catastrophic event or significant disruption of University operations or for any other reason.
If the delivery of courses is changed to partial or total online delivery, there will be no credit for any tuition (including academic fees and program fees). There will be no credit for other fees related to services that continue to be provided, whether in person or virtual, online, electronic or another system. Credits, if any, for fees for services (other than tuition, academic or program fees) that do not continue due to partial or total online course delivery or related closure of facilities would be subject to the approval of the Board of Trustees.
Later charges for fees could be incurred if:
- Credits are made.
- Partial or total online course delivery reverts to in-person delivery prior to the end of the semester.
- And discontinued services supported by fees begin again prior to the end of the semester.
Any credit is first applied to the then-outstanding balance on a student account. Therefore after the application of credit, a student may not receive payment and is still obligated to pay the remaining balance on the student’s account.
Adjustment of Financial Aid for Students Withdrawing from the University
Adjustments of academic fees are made per semester and Summer Session adjustment policies. University housing refunds and policies may be found on the University Housing and Dining website. Meal plan refunds are made on a pro-rata basis.
Additional information can be obtained from the Office of Student Financial Aid.
Since financial aid is expected to meet or help meet educational costs, any academic fee, housing or meal plan fee for students withdrawing from the University up to the amount of financial aid received for that semester or Summer session will be refunded to the Financial Aid Program(s) from which the student received assistance.
Students receiving Title IV Funds (Federal Pell Grant, Federal SEOG, Federal Perkins, Federal Direct Loans–unsubsidized or subsidized) or Federal PLUS Loans who withdraw from the University are subject to the Return of Title IV Funds regulations. Students with funds from any of these programs earn their financial aid dollars while enrolled. If a student withdraws prior to completing over 60 percent of a term, a prorated portion of the federal financial aid dollars must be considered unearned and returned to the federal programs. This requirement could cause students to owe the University a significant amount upon withdrawal.
In addition to the amount of federal aid that Clemson must return, students who received financial aid for other educational costs, including off-campus living expenses, may be required to repay a portion of those funds to the federal programs. Failure to return aid owed to the federal aid programs may result in loss of eligibility for federal aid assistance. Federal aid funds to be returned are distributed to the programs in the following order:
- Unsubsidized Federal Direct Loan.
- Subsidized Federal Direct Loan.
- Federal PLUS Loan.
- Federal Pell Grant.
- Federal SEOG.
- Other Title IV Programs.
- Non-Title IV Program.
After the adjustment has been applied to the Title IV and non-Title IV programs, any remaining credit balance will be refunded to the student. If debts were incurred before withdrawing, such as payments returned to us as unpaid, unpaid citations or library fines, etc., the refund will cover these obligations first. Academic fees, housing and meal plan refunds for students withdrawing will be paid to the student.
