The Graduate School: Student Financial Information

FINANCIAL INFORMATION

Click on any of the following links for information:

• Payment of Accounts
• Tuition and Fees
• Payment Arrangements
• Refund/Repayment Policy
• Credit Balance Refunds

For more than 100 years, this institution has provided students the opportunity to reach their educational goals and career aspirations by creating programs and student-oriented services that meet their needs. The following information is a summary of the services available to assist students in meeting their academic goals.

Student’s Payment Obligation: All tuition and fees are due and payable before the first day of classes. In order to finalize registration, payment arrangements must be made before classes begin. Any student unable to make payment in full before the first day of classes (including those students whose financial aid has not arrived) must make a payment arrangement with Student Account Services and sign a payment agreement. A down payment may be required.

A person who has outstanding indebtedness to the University will not be allowed to register for additional classes, receive a transcript or record, have academic credits certified, or receive a diploma until the indebtedness has been satisfactorily cleared with Student Account Services. Failure to make any payment as agreed may result in mandatory administrative withdrawal from courses in which the student debtor is currently enrolled. Any registered student who does not officially withdraw in writing is financially liable for all tuition and associated fees.

Refunds will be credited first to the balance due on account in accordance with the published refund policy.

Change-of-Address: To facilitate accurate record keeping, it is necessary to keep the University apprised of current name, address and social security information. Change-of- Address forms are available at the front desk in the Registrar’s Office. This form should be filled out and returned to Friends University, Office of the Registrar, immediately upon any address change. Change of address notification may also be handled by written correspondence.

Cashiering Services:  Payments to Friends University for any purpose may be paid by personal check, cash (or equivalent), Visa, Mastercard, American Express or Discover. An NSF fee will be assessed for each check, which is returned by our bank and not paid for any reason. If a check returned for non-sufficient funds was intended as a payment on account, it will be considered a non-payment. Any student who presents a check in payment for any service or merchandise at Friends University, which is returned unpaid by the bank, may be denied check-writing privileges. In addition, a service hold will be placed on the student’s account until the outstanding bad check and fee has been paid in full.

The University Cashier is located on the Wichita campus in Sumpter Hall. The Cashier offers other services in addition to taking payments. Students may cash checks for up to $50 per day. The Cashier also has a supply of change for laundry or other needs. On the last working day of the month the Cashier distributes student paychecks to students with proper identification. For your protection, we reserve the right to request positive photo identification when you request any financial service.

Methods of Payment: Payments may be mailed to Student Account Services, presented in the Topeka or Greater Kansas City-Lenexa office, presented in person to a cashier in Sumpter Hall, and on online in Self-Service Banner (SSB).

You can make your payment securely online using a credit card or eCheck at no additional cost.

ALL PROGRAMS NON-REFUNDABLE FEES:
Transcripts (must be requested in writing or online)
Registrar Office Processing Services		$12.00
Online Processing Service		$10.00
Student I.D. Replacement		$12.00
Credit by Examination (CLEP)		$45.00 per credit hour
NSF - Returned Check Fee		$30.00
Audit Fee		$150.00 per credit hour
GRADUATE PROGRAMS
(All class groups with original start dates 6-1-13 to 5-31-14.)
Fees:
Application Fee (non-refundable)		$35.00
International Application Fee (non-refundable)		$50.00
MFT Enrollment Deposit		$150.00
Online Technology Fee		$50.00 per credit hour
Graduate Workshop Fee		$150.00 per credit hour
Graduate Workshop Online Course Fee		$50.00
International Summer Travel Courses                    (Non-Degree Seeking Students only)		Current Education Workshop per credit hour rate
TUITION:
ALL PROGRAMS - ALL LOCATIONS & Online
Master of Business Administration		$631.00 per credit hour
Master of Business Administration in Accounting		$631.00 per credit hour
Master of Business Law		$631.00 per credit hour
Master of Health Care Leadership		$631.00 per credit hour
Master of Management Information Systems		$631.00 per credit hour
Master of Arts in Teaching		$631.00 per credit hour
Master of Arts in Liberal Studies (inactive)
Master of Science in Family Therapy		$576.00 per credit hour
Master of Arts in Christian Ministry		$576.00 per credit hour
Master of Science in Environmental Studies		$576.00 per credit hour
Master of Science in Operations Management		$631.00 per credit hour
Master of Science in Organizational Development		$731.00 per credit hour
Master of Global Leadership and Management		$731.00 per credit hour
Friends University reserves the right to adjust prices for tuition and/or fees without notice.

Account Disbursement Policy: Financial aid will be applied in the following manner: 1) first, to term-related program charges, and then 2) to any remaining educational-related expenses. Under no circumstances will Friends University advance funds on the presumption of financial aid not yet disbursed or any anticipated funding from outside sources. A student account must evidence a credit balance before a cash disbursement to the student will be made.

It is recognized that on extremely rare occasions a student who is strictly relying on financial aid to cover other academic expenses may experience some difficulty due to this policy. In those situations, the student will have the opportunity to submit a written request to the University Exceptions Committee. After carefully considering the appropriateness of advancing funds against undisbursed aid or any anticipated funding from outside sources, the committee will render a decision in writing to the student.

Credit Worthiness: Friends University reserves the right to examine and evaluate credit worthiness at any time. The student’s signature on any extended payment agreement authorizes the University to obtain information from credit reporting agencies and to report the account payment performance to credit bureaus. Friends University reserves the right to refuse credit or any form of deferred payment agreement to any student based on a verifiable record of previous default on such arrangements at Friends University and/or information received from credit bureaus or other reporting agencies. If an unforeseen financial hardship prevents a student from making payment as agreed, a formal payment agreement may be arranged with Student Account Services to rectify the default. However, if the student does not choose to do this, the debt may be referred to a collection agency. Once this has occurred all arrangements for repayment must be made with that agency and the account holder forfeits the right to petition for leniency or to dispute the charges. Friends University will require advance payment for future educational benefits on accounts that have previously been referred for collection or following a loss that is the result of a bankruptcy discharge.

Administrative Withdrawal for Nonpayment: Failure to complete financial aid applications, failure to make acceptable payment arrangements, or non-payment of agreed amounts by agreed dates may result in administrative withdrawal from current enrollment. A student who has been administratively withdrawn may request reinstatement after correcting the problem. If approved, there will be an administrative fee charged for re-enrollment, see current year fees schedule.

Default: If you do not pay your account in accordance with any agreement approved by us in writing, you will be considered to be in default. If we do not have a written agreement, you will be in default if you do not pay your statement balance in full by the due date on the first statement received. Default means that we may require full payment of the account balance. If it becomes necessary to refer your account to a collection agency or an attorney, we may add incurred collection costs, attorney fees and court costs to your account. These fees and costs could be up to 50 percent of the defaulted balance.

Tuition Payment Plans: Tuition payment plans are available for graduate students. These plans are arranged on a program basis and the number of monthly payments will equal the number of months included in the scheduled length of the program. To estimate the payment for graduate payment plans, divide the program cost (less application fees) by the number of scheduled months in the program. Application fees are paid separately.  Textbooks purchased at the bookstore may not be included in the Tuition Payment Plan. All documented financial aid will be subtracted from the total allowable charges, and the remaining balance due is the amount that will be divided into monthly payments.

Any miscellaneous charges will be billed monthly and will be due and payable upon receipt of the statement of account.

If you wish to arrange a tuition payment plan for payment of your educational expenses, please contact the Student Account Services office for assistance. The plan needs to be arranged and the first payment made PRIOR to the end of 100 percent refund period (this date will be clearly stated on your enrollment form). If the first payment has not been received at Friends by that date, you will be subject to administrative withdrawal. Once the payment has been received at Friends you may re-enroll. There will be a $50 fee for reenrollment.

A set-up fee of $100 will be charged for all graduate program payment plans.  For your convenience, you may arrange to have your payments electronically transferred from your checking or savings account.  There is no additional charge for these services.  Tuition payment plan payments must be received in the Student Account Services office by the 20th day of each month. The first payment must be made before final registration may be completed. If payments are not made as agreed, the remaining balance becomes immediately due and payable and subject to collection procedures described previously (see Default).

Deferment Plan for Employer Reimbursement: Students who are eligible for tuition reimbursement funds from their employers may apply for a loan, which will authorize deferment of tuition payment. A formal agreement must be signed by the student and approved by the Student Account Services Office before the deferred payment arrangement becomes effective. Students who arrange to defer payment of their educational costs while awaiting employer reimbursement must understand that these educational costs have not been waived. The student remains personally liable for repayment of the loan in the event that the indicated person, company or agency fails to pay for any part of the full amount of these charges within the allowable time. Failure to pay in full within the terms of the deferment agreement (within 45 days of the last scheduled day of class) constitutes default (see Default) and may result in denial of deferment loans for subsequent classes or terms in addition to required collection activity. Students who are interested in the Employer Reimbursement Deferment plan should contact Student Account Services for more information regarding this payment option.

If you would like to defer payment of educational expenses pending receipt of employer reimbursement, please contact the Student Account Services office for assistance. The deferral needs to be arranged and required documentation received at Friends PRIOR to the end of 100 percent refund period (this date will be clearly stated on your enrollment form). If acceptable deferral arrangements have not been received by that date, you will be subject to administrative withdrawal. Once the deferral arrangements have been made you may re-enroll. There will be a $50 fee for re-enrollment.

Direct Billing: Students who are employed by a company which has a direct billing arrangement with Friends University should contact Student Account Services for information regarding the direct billing process between Friends and his or her employer. Student Account Services must have a Direct Billing Agreement signed by the student on file before any company can be billed directly for the student’s educational expenses. These forms are available in the Student Account Services Office. Students who arrange to pay their account by means of a direct billing process between Friends University and their employer or any other agency must understand that these educational costs have not been waived. The student remains personally liable for payment in the event that the indicated person, company or agency fails to pay for any part of the full amount of these charges.

Specific requests for billing of educational expenses to any employer or sponsoring agency may be arranged with Student Account Services with written approval from the company or agency. An administrative fee may be charged for this service.

Special Payment Arrangements: Students who wish to pay for their tuition and fees with an individualized payment plan should contact Student Account Services and request an appointment to discuss payment options. Once a payment plan has been designed which is both acceptable to Student Account Services and viable for the student, the student will be asked to sign a written agreement.

Student Loans and Grants: Students who wish to pay for their educational expenses with federally sponsored student loans and/or grants must complete the application process in the Financial Aid Office. Proceeds from Federal Stafford (subsidized and unsubsidized) and PLUS loans will not be disbursed until the student is fully enrolled and classes have begun. Stafford loan funds received by EFT are automatically applied to the student’s account. An amount equal to the charges to be incurred for all tuition and fees during the designated loan period will be withheld from funds received from student loans. Any overpayment generated by student loan payments will be automatically returned to the student. (See Credit Balance Refunds for details.)

The financial aid application for student loans process must be completed before enrollment may be finalized. If this application process is not complete and aid eligibility determined PRIOR to the end of 100 percent refund period (this date will be clearly stated on your enrollment form), you will be subject to administrative withdrawal. Once the financial aid process has been satisfactorily completed you may re-enroll. There will be a fee for re-enrollment, see current year fee schedule.

A grace period not to exceed 60 days from the first day of qualifying class will be granted to allow for loans and grants to be disbursed.

Students who initially arrange payment for their educational expenses by means of federally sponsored student loans or other forms of financial aid will be held personally responsible for immediate payment in full should any or all of the anticipated loans and/or financial aid not transpire. Decisions to reduce or eliminate student loans, changes in enrollment, and/or any changes in financial aid eligibility must be discussed immediately with Student Account Services in order to arrange acceptable alternative payment arrangements.

Nature of Credit: The credit which is granted to you by Friends University for any of the above extended payment arrangements is entirely for educational purposes and is considered an educational loan. As such, this loan may not be dischargeable in bankruptcy.

Monthly Statements: If you have a balance due on your account, a monthly statement will be generated and posted for viewing online regardless of which payment arrangement you have chosen. You will receive eMail notification via your Friends University eMail account when your statement is ready to view.  It will indicate your current balance and list all charges, payments and adjustments which have been made to your account during the month.

In the case of withdrawal from Friends University for any reason, the following rebate schedule shall apply:

• 100 percent of tuition will be rebated for withdrawals, which occur before the end of the 10 percent (in time) of the nontraditional course, which he/she had been charged;
• 50 percent of tuition will be rebated for withdrawals, which occur after 10 percent (in time) of the non-traditional course and before the end of 25 percent (in time) of the non-traditional course, which he/she has been charged; and
• 25 percent of tuition will be rebated for withdrawals, which occur after 25 percent (in time) of the non-traditional course, and before 50 percent (in time) of nontraditional course, which he/she has been charged.
• Students who withdraw for any reason after 50 percent (in time) will not receive a rebate of any portion of tuition.

Curriculum fees are non-refundable after the 100 percent (100%) refund period has expired for the course to which the fee was attached. No refunds will be granted for curriculum fees until all texts and materials for that course have been returned.

Repayment of Title IV Funds: For ALL Students, if the student has received funding from Student Federal Assistance (Stafford Loans, PLUS loans, Perkins loans, SEOG or Pell Grant) and withdraws during a period of enrollment or payment period, the amount that has been earned up to that point is determined on a pro-rata basis. If you received less assistance than the amount that you earned, you may be able to receive those additional funds. If you received more assistance than you earned, the excess funds must be returned.

The amount of assistance you earned is determined on a pro-rata basis (days completed divided by total days in the period of enrollment). If you completed 30 percent of your period of enrollment, you earn 30 percent of the assistance you were originally scheduled to receive. Once you have completed more than 60 percent of the period of enrollment, you earn all of your assistance.

If you received excess funds that must be returned, Friends University must return a portion of the excess equal to the lesser of:

1. your institutional charges multiplied by the unearned percentage of your funds, or
2. the entire amount of the excess funds.

If Friends University is not required to return all of the excess funds, you must return the remaining amount. Any loan funds that you must return, you (or your parent for a PLUS loan) can repay in accordance with the terms of the promissory note. (That is, you make scheduled payments to the holder of the loan during a period of time.)

If you are responsible for returning grant funds, you do not have to return the full amount. The law provides that you are not required to return 50 percent of the grant assistance that you received that is your responsibility to repay. Any amount that you do have to return is a grant overpayment, and you must make arrangements with Friends University or the Department of Education to return the funds.

Friends University must return the unearned aid for which the school is responsible by repaying funds to the following sources, in the following order, up to the total net amount disbursed from each source: Unsubsidized Stafford Loan, Subsidized Stafford Loan, Perkins Loan, PLUS Loan, Pell Grant, FSEOG and other Title IV programs.

This Repayment Policy does not apply to institutional, state or other non-federal funding sources. Institutional, state or other non-federal funding sources will follow the Friends University Refund Policy listed on the previous page.

Loan (Stafford or Perkins) and TEACH Grant recipients who withdraw are required to have an exit interview before leaving Friends University and should contact the Financial Aid Office.

Examples of refund calculations as detailed in this policy are available to students upon request made to the Financial Aid Office. 

Students having a credit balance on account after payment of current enrollment charges with Title IV funds (Federal PELL grants, student loans, etc.) will receive refund checks automatically within 14 days. These refund checks will be mailed directly to the student using the local mailing address reported by the student to the University. Refund checks for credit balances created by payment with PLUS loans will be issued to the parent.  Students may arrange to have their refunds automatically transferred to their checking or savings account.  Financial aid for the applicable enrollment period will not be credited to a student’s account until enrollment has been finalized and all associated charges have been posted. No credit balances will be refunded until all current charges have been paid in full. Students wishing to retain the credit balance in their account to cover anticipated additional educational expenses may arrange to do so by written request. (Forms are available in the Student Account Services and Financial Aid offices.)