Financing Your Education

Payment Policy

Financial arrangements for all student charges must be settled by the published payment deadline. It is the student responsibility to make this payment even is a statement has not been received. If the student is unable to pay the total balance due (after guaranteed financial aid), the student may join an interest-free monthly payment program with Tuition Management Services, TMS. You may enroll on line at www.afford.com/belmont or call 1-800-722-4867.This program provides an opportunity to make monthly payments with no interest, borrowing, or hidden fees. For a low enrollment fee, the student can participate in this plan and take 8, 10 or 12 months (depending on the enrollment date) to pay for the tuition for the fall and spring semesters. Students who do not priority-register must be prepared to select a payment plan and make an initial payment at the time of registration.
If a student has any financial obligation to Belmont, the student will not be allowed to register for any subsequent semester until the account is paid. Belmont reserves the right to withhold the diploma and official transcript from students with delinquent accounts.

Statement of Liability

Should a student leave Belmont University owing on his/her account, he/she will be liable for all fees associated with collections. In addition to this the student will be responsible for collection agency/attorney fees of 33.33% - 50% of the unpaid balance.

Housing Contract

All residential students will be required to comply with a nine-month contract.

Refund Schedule – Complete Withdrawals

Registration at the university is considered a contract binding the student for the entire semester. Many commitments of the university are based upon the enrollment anticipated at the beginning of the semester.

Any student refusing to conform to the disciplinary rules of the university or being suspended for academic reasons will forfeit all claim for any refund.

After the late registration period, there will be no refund of fees.

When a student officially withdraws from all courses (Fall or Spring), any refund of tuition will be governed by the following policy calculated from the first official day of classes for the term.

No refund will be considered past the fifth week of classes in any semester.

Please contact Residence Life @ 615-460-5802 for housing refund details.

Dates and prorating percentages for Summer are printed in the schedule book.

Room and board may be pro-rated should a student completely withdraw from school based on the percentages and dates above. However, no refund will be considered past the fifth week of classes in any semester.

Refund of Credit Balance

Any student who has a refundable credit balance on his/her account will receive a refund check. After the first refund date in each semester, refunds will be processed weekly. If an account has a refundable credit balance by noon on Tuesday, a refund will be available on the following Friday at Belmont Central. All refunds not picked up will be mailed to the Billing Address after 3:30 p.m. on Friday. It is the student's responsibility to keep the University Registrar informed of any address changes. Belmont cannot be responsible for delays caused by inaccurate addresses.

Financial Aid for Graduate Students

Graduate students are eligible to apply for the Direct Unsubsidized Stafford Loan programs.

Federal Unsubsidized Stafford Loan carries the same terms and conditions as the Subsidized Stafford loan except the borrower is responsible for interest that accrues during deferment periods. This program is available for those who do not qualify for all or part of the Subsidized Stafford program. The maximum loan is $20,500 per academic year, beginning July 1, 2012.

Eligibility Requirements

Submit the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) or the Renewal FAFSA (for previous Federal Aid applicants) and request that Belmont University receive a copy of the analysis. The FAFSA requires approximately six weeks for processing and should be filed much earlier than the March 1 priority deadline. You may file the FAFSA online at www.fafsa.ed.gov.

Financial Aid Satisfactory Progress Standard

In order to receive federal financial aid, students must be making satisfactory academic progress. The university is required to apply standards that are both qualitative and quantitative. These standards apply for periods of enrollment which began on or after August 1, 1998.

Eligibility for federal programs will be evaluated as part of the initial application process and again at the end of each academic year. In the evaluation process, all grades of "W" (withdrawn) or "I" (incomplete) will be counted as hours attempted but not passed. Repeated courses will count as hours attempted. Entering students are considered to be making satisfactory academic progress.

Students cannot receive aid after attempting 150% of the hours required for completion of their academic program. Hours accepted for transfer credit will reduce this time frame.

Undergraduate Students

Qualitative - Students must be accepted for admission and be eligible to enroll for classes. Students must also achieve and maintain a cumulative 2.0 grade point average on all course work attempted at Belmont.

Quantitative - Students must average passing 75% of all hours attempted.

Graduate Students

Qualitative - Students must be accepted for admission and be eligible to enroll for classes. In addition, students must achieve and maintain a 3.0 cumulative grade point average on all course work attempted at Belmont.

Quantitative - Students must average passing 75% of all hours attempted.

Appeals

Students failing to meet these standards for satisfactory academic progress may feel that there are mitigating circumstances that contributed to their failure. In such cases, students may choose to appeal for reinstatement of their financial aid eligibility based on these unique circumstances.

Appeals must be submitted in writing and should be addressed to the

Appeals Committee
Office of Student Financial Services
Belmont University
1900 Belmont Boulevard
Nashville, TN 37212-3757

Decisions of the committee will be communicated in writing.

Withdrawal and Return of Federal Title IV Funds

When a student who received federal Title IV financial aid withdraws from the university, the unearned portion of these awards must be returned to federal Title IV financial aid programs. Federal Title IV financial aid includes the Federal Pell Grant, the Federal Supplemental Educational Opportunity Grant (FSEOG), the Federal Perkins Loan, the Federal Stafford Loan, and the Federal Parent Loan for Undergraduate Students (PLUS).

In order to determine the unearned portion of federal financial aid, first subtract the number of days remaining in the academic term after the withdrawal date (federal regulations define the withdrawal date as the date on which the student initiates the withdrawal process) from the total number of days in the academic term. The remainder is divided by the total number of days in the academic term. The resulting percentage is applied to the total of federal Title IV federal aid awarded to the student for the term in order to determine unearned Title IV aid.

The federal government has prescribed the order in which unearned aid is returned to federal Title IV programs. The responsibility for the return of unearned federal Title IV financial aid is shared by the student and the university.

Students and parents should note that the requirement to return federal Title IV funds may result in a balance due to Belmont University subsequent to withdrawal.