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Disbursement Process

The Arkansas Colleges of Health Education (ACHE) will disburse financial student aid as soon as administratively feasible, but no later than three business days after receiving Title IV funds from the U.S. Department of Education. Your financial aid awards must be completed and credited to your account (not estimated awards), and you must have a credit balance on your account after institutional charges have been satisfied for the semester before receiving a refund of excess aid. Excess of Title IV refunds will begin within three business days after financial aid is disbursed.

Disbursement for authorized Direct Loans will generally occur in two substantially equal installments during the academic year. Students who receive a Direct Loan for only one term will have a disbursement occur at the beginning and midpoint of the term in two substantially equal installments.

ACHE will confirm the following information for students before disbursing any federal student aid funds that are authorized on their student account:

  • Eligible student for Federal Student Aid Funds
  • Enrolled at least half-time
  • Entrance Counseling completed as a Graduate/Professional Student
  • Has a valid and linked Master Promissory Note (MPN) as a Graduate/Professional Student
  • Has completed verification (if required)
  • Maintaining Satisfactory Academic Progress (SAP)

All students receiving Federal Student Aid Funds will be provided with electronic notifications via their Student Portal:

  • General Notification
    • Anticipated date and amount of the disbursement before the disbursement is made.
    • Which funds are from subsidized loans and which are from unsubsidized loans.
    • Student’s right to cancel all or a portion of a loan or loan disbursement and have the loan proceeds returned to the U.S. Department of Education.
    • Procedures and deadlines by which the student must notify the school that he or she wishes to cancel the loan or loan disbursement.
  • Disbursement Notification
    • Notice when FSA loan funds are credited to the student’s account.
    • Notification will be sent no earlier than 30 days before and no later than 30 days after crediting the student’s account.

MSB – Projected Disbursement & Refund Dates

SemesterDisbursementACH Refund
Fall 2023July 24, 2023July 27, 2023
Spring 2024January 3, 2024January 8, 2024

DO – Projected Disbursement & Refund Dates

Fall 2023DisbursementACH Refund
DO IJuly 24, 2023 July 27, 2023
DO IIAugust 1, 2023August 4, 2023
DO IIIJuly 5, 2023July 10, 2023
DO IVJuly 5, 2023July 10, 2023
Spring 2024DisbursementACH Refund
DO IJanuary 5, 2024January 10, 2024
DO IIJanuary 4, 2024January 9, 2024
DO IIIDecember 19, 2023December 22, 2023
DO IVDecember 19, 2023December 22, 2023

OTS – Projected Disbursement & Refund Dates

SemesterDisbursementACH Refund
Summer 2023May 23, 2023May 26, 2023
Fall 2023August 15, 2023August 18, 2023
Spring 2024January 9, 2024January 12, 2024

SPT – Projected Disbursement & Refund Dates

Summer 2023DisbursementACH Refund
PT IMay 23, 2023May 26, 2023
PT IIMay 23, 2023May 26, 2023
PT IIIMay 23, 2023May 26, 2023
Fall 2023DisbursementACH Refund
PT IAugust 15, 2023August 18, 2023
PT IIAugust 15, 2023August 18, 2023
PT IIIAugust 8, 2023August 11, 2023
Spring 2024DisbursementACH Refund
PT IJanuary 9, 2024January 12, 2024
PT IIJanuary 9, 2024January 12, 2024
PT IIIJanuary 9, 2024January 12, 2024

Do not assume financial aid you accept will disburse to your student account on the projected dates. Disbursement and refund dates may vary for individual students based upon his or her enrollment and program of study. You must have completed all requirements for financial aid to disburse and Title IV aid must be accepted by the U.S. Department of Education before disbursement may occur. It is your responsibility to monitor your student account via your Student Portal to ensure your account balance has been paid by the payment due date. The payment due date for each term is generally the Friday before each term begins.

If you have questions about your financial aid contact the Office of Financial Aid via e-mail or phone at (479) 308-2200. If you have questions about your payment due date or how to pay your account balance contact the Business Office via e-mail or phone at (479) 308-2218.

Credit Balance Process

Policy
ACHE policy is to resolve eligible credit balances in student accounts as promptly as possible and in compliance with all applicable regulations before the end of the term in which the credit balance is created. Credit balances may be related to payments from several sources such as personal funds, Title IV Federal Student Aid, grants and scholarships, private loans, and third-party agencies.

Our policies and procedures for handling student account credit balances adhere strictly to federal and other regulatory requirements and vary depending on whether the credit balance is related to Title IV federal aid funds or not.

Definitions
A credit balance results when the total of the credits posted to a student’s account (payments, loan disbursements, scholarships, etc.) exceeds the total of the charges applied for a specific term.

A credit balance eligible for a stipend or refund results when all the applicable charges and credits have been posted to the account and his or her eligibility for such funds has been reviewed and confirmed or adjusted based on current eligibility, enrollment or any other applicable conditions.

ACHE will not hold any credit balances eligible for a refund, including excess Title IV funds.

Anticipated funds, including anticipated financial aid, are not considered credits to a student’s account until the funds have been disbursed to the account.

Procedure
The Business Office monitors credit balances daily as they are created in student accounts, review for accuracy of charges and funds posted, as well as possible pending charges. Credit balances related to Title IV funds, per federal regulations, are processed no later than 14 days after either:

  • The date the credit balance occurred on the student’s account, if the credit balance occurred after the first day of class of a payment period, or
  • The first day of classes of the payment period, if the credit balance occurred on or before the first day of class of that payment period.

Credit balances related to excess Title IV funds are always prioritized first. Refunds of credit balances related to other types of funds receive second priority.

The Business Office will provide notification to students electronically and securely via their student portal email when stipends for excess credit of Title IV funds or refunds are issued for credit balances on their student account. Both stipends and refunds are issued via Direct Deposit or paper check. ACHE strongly recommends that students use the Direct Deposit (ACH) option available through their Student Portal. If the student does not choose direct deposit, then a paper check is mailed to their address on file.

Refund by Direct Deposit

ACHE strongly recommends that students use the Direct Deposit (ACH) option available through their Student Portal. A Direct Deposit Authorization Form must be completed after the banking information has been entered by the student. Forms may be completed during orientation or in the Controller’s Office. Direct deposit payments typically appear in your bank account within 2-3 business days from the time the refund is posted to your student account. You will receive an activity notification in your ARCOM email account when the direct deposit information has been sent to your bank.

Direct deposit must be set up at least 24 hours before your refund is posted to your student account. If not, you will be issued a paper check.

Refund by Check

Paper checks will be processed once a week and mailed to the address on file, which may delay the receipt of your refund due to processing and postal service. You will receive an activity notification in your ACHE email account when the check has been issued. Refund checks lost in the mail will not be re-issued until 10 business days after it was mailed out. An administrative fee of $25 may be assessed for issuing a replacement check.

Provisions for Books & Supplies

Students who are eligible to receive a title IV, HEA credit balance 10 days before the beginning of the payment period will be provided with their refund to purchase required books and supplies within 7 days of the payment period if they meet the following conditions:

  • ACHE could disburse the Title IV, HEA program funds for which the student is eligible; and
  • Presuming the funds were disbursed, the student would have a credit balance after the funds were disbursed.

Students who are required to purchase supplies through the school because they are not currently available elsewhere or accessible by students enrolled in that program from sources other than those provided or authorized by ACHE may elect to opt out of using Title IV, HEA funds to pay for these charges.  Students who opt out will be responsible for any charges incurred for these supplies.  To opt out a student would need to complete a Financial Aid Authorization Form, which is available in the Financial Aid Office.

Returning Funds

The Office of Financial Aid will return funds to the loan servicer upon written request from the student borrower, even after the loan funds have been disbursed. If you wish to cancel all or a portion of an already disbursed loan, you must notify the financial aid office within 14 calendar days of notification that loan funds have been applied to your student account.

If you submit a loan cancellation request to the Office of Financial Aid later than 14 days after you receive this notification of your right to cancel, the school has the option of cancelling and returning the loan.  If the school declines to return the loan disbursement, you should contact your assigned loan servicer to return the funds.  You have the right to return Direct Loan funds within 120 days of disbursement by the school with the appropriate adjustment of the loan fees and interest.  In addition, Direct Loan funds that are returned by a school at any time to comply with a regulatory or statutory requirement are treated as a partial or full cancellation. Direct Loan funds returned after 120 days or more after disbursement are processed as a payment, and there is no adjustment of the loan fee or interest.

The loan funds must be returned with a written request. If returning the funds through the school will result in a balance being owed on your school account, you must pay the balance within 5 business days to the Business Office, or the request will be cancelled. The Loan Change/Cancellation Request Form is available in the Financial Aid Resources Folder that can be accessed by logging into myPortal at achehealth.edu or requested from the ACHE Office of Financial Aid. 

If you have questions about your refund amount contact the Business Office via e-mail or phone at (479) 308-2218.