Refunds & Disbursements | NorthWest Arkansas Community College

Main Content Start

Refunds and Disbursements


Tuition and fee refunds will be issued to eligible students who drop their classes by the drop deadline, been dropped from a class, or a class has been canceled. See the Academic Calendar for the drop deadline for the current semester. 

It is your responsibility to officially drop courses you are no longer attending within the refund period to be eligible for a refund.

Refund Information

Students who are enrolled in classes that have been canceled will receive a 100% credit/refund of tuition and fees for the canceled classes. These refunds will be done during normal refund periods.  

Financial aid will only pay what is charged to a student's account at the time the financial aid is disbursed. For any charges incurred by the student after the financial aid was applied, the balance owed will be the responsibility of the student. Failure to pay balances in full by payment deadlines may prevent enrollment in future terms.

First Year, First Time Student Loan Borrowers must establish 30 days of attendance in at least 6 credit hours in order to receive their first loan disbursement (this applies to loans only, not other types of aid such as Pell grants and scholarships). The term "first-year, first-time borrower" applies to students who have never had a student loan at NWACC or any college/university, and have either earned less than 30 credit hours or are enrolled in a technical certificate (TC) or certificate of training (CT).

A single-term loan (Fall or Spring only) are distributed in two disbursements. The 2nd disbursement is after the mid-point in the semester.

Students enrolled in a 12 Week or 2nd 8 Week course will receive another Financial Aid disbursement after the 80% drop period ends for that part of term. 

The amount disbursed may be less than the amount in your award letter.
The amounts shown in your award letter are based on full-time enrollment (12 credits per term). If you are enrolled for fewer than 12 credits when your funds are disbursed, your award amounts might have been adjusted. If you have questions about your award amounts, contact the Financial Aid Office.

How to Check Your Financial Aid Refund

Classes with the same number of credit hours that are dropped and added simultaneously will be treated as an even exchange of tuition and fees during the drop periods of each semester.

For classes with different total credit hours that are dropped and added simultaneously, students will receive the appropriate credit/refund of tuition and fees percentage for the dropped class or pay the total tuition and fees for the added classes.

The infrastructure fee and the registration fee are non-refundable during the 80% drop period, only tuition and fees will be refunded at 80%.

Note: For those students who do not officially drop from classes, no credit/refund of tuition and fees will be made.