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Managing Your Refund

A refundable credit balance may result on your student account because of financial aid/loan payments, overpayments and/or account adjustments. If the credit balance is created because of an overpayment made by check or electronic check, the refund will not be processed for at least 10 business days to allow time for the check payment to clear the bank.

If the credit balance results from a credit card payment made within the last 90 days, the credit card will be refunded up to the amount of the payment first. Any remaining credit card balance will be refunded through direct deposit or paper check.

Refunds caused by financial aid and loan payments are issued after the initial disbursement of financial aid, which generally occurs a few days prior to the start of the semester. Refunds are processed continually during the semester as aid is credited to the student account.

Please complete the Authorization to Return a Refund form if you want to return a Temple-issued refund that was the result of excess loan borrowing.

Refund Options

Direct Deposit (ACH) into a Bank Account of Your Choice

Students can access Manage My Refunds within TUpay and select their refund option as soon as they pay a deposit to the university. 

  • Access TUportal
  • Select Student Tools
  • Select TUpay under Student Accounts
  • Select Manage My Refunds

Specific instructions to select your refund method are available in Manage My Refunds.

Paper Check Mailed to Your Address

If you will wish to receive your refund via check, it will be sent to your mailing or permanent address on file at Temple University. To update your mailing or permanent address,

  • access TUportal,
  • select Self-Service Banner,
  • select Personal Information, and
  • select Addresses & Phones.

Note: If no option is selected in Manage My Refunds, a check is mailed to your mailing or permanent address listed in Self-Service Banner (SSB) with mailing address being selected first. However, you must have a valid address before a refund can be issued. Thus, it is very important that you make sure to have a correct address in SSB.

Parent PLUS Refunds

Refunds are typically issued to the student. The only time the Parent PLUS loan is sent to the parent is when the credit balance is the result of a Parent PLUS loan and the parent checked the option on the loan application to receive the refund rather than the student. The parent must put a valid address on the loan application. We recommend that parent borrowers electing to receive the refund sign up for direct deposit. Parent borrowers who are the authorized payer on an account may sign up for direct deposit using the same steps as above, but logging into TUpay with their log in, not the student’s AccessNet.

It is very important to note that parents are not always sent the refund from a Parent PLUS loan because the Parent PLUS refund must be the payment that causes the credit balance on the student’s account.

Common Refund Questions

How do I view my student refund information?

Students can access their refund information from TUpay and select their refund option as soon as they pay a deposit to the university.

  • Access TUportal
  • Select Student Tools
  • Select TUpay under Student Accounts
  • Select Manage My Refunds
How do I set up direct deposit?

Direct deposit can be set up via Student Choice Refunds within the student’s TUpay account in the Cost and Aid tab of TUportal. Students can reference the Bursar's Office website for additional information.

How can I check the status of a paper check that was not received?

Students who were sent a paper refund check and have not received it should first check the mailing address listed on TUportal to confirm where it was sent. Please note that we cannot reissue a paper check; we can only stop payment and reissue a refund via direct deposit.

Send an email to  to inquire if a missing check was cashed or not.

What is the process of returning a refund?

Student and Parent PLUS loan refunds are processed by our servicer NELNET. (The funding is not on-site at Temple University.) 

  • If the refund was a result of the Direct Student Loan, Parent PLUS loan or a private loan, the student must submit a Loan Change Form (see below) to our office to let us know how much of the funding they wish to return. We cannot move forward until this is done first.
  • If the refund was from another source, we will first need to review to see what the process will be. Please email us at  for this review.
  • Paper refund checks must be endorsed and signed over to Temple University. Temple cannot cash this check since it is in student’s name.
  • This check should be sent to the Bursar’s Office and not Student Financial Services. Include a copy of the loan change form with the check.
  • Do not void the check. Voided checks cannot be canceled.
  • Uncashed checks from NELNET take 90 days to return to Temple University. We cannot expedite that process. Once we are notified of an uncashed check, we will reach out to the student for the next step in processing.
  • Students/authorized payers can also cash the refund check and then electronically pay it back to Temple via the Temple TUpay system. If you choose this method, please email  to ensure the refund is not sent back out. 

Refunds received via direct deposit can be paid it back to Temple via TUpay. Students should first email to notify our office that a refund needs to be returned so we can apply a refund suppression to the account to avoid reissuing the funds.

I am a parent. How do I sign up for direct deposit for my Parent PLUS loan refund?
  • The parent must first be set up as an authorized payer on the student’s account. Students can grant their permission via their portal.
  • Login to TUpay under the parent's account
  • Select TUpay Student Choice Refunds to be taken directly into the direct deposit system. Follow the steps below to complete the process.
    • Select Manage My Refunds Account.
    • Under Refund Method, select Edit Refund Method.
    • You will receive an authentication code via email.
    • Enter the authentication code number and click submit.
    • Select Bank Account (Direct Deposit) and enter the required information.

We recommend using the email option to verify your information instead of the text option.

Altering Loans to Avoid Refunds

Instead of receiving a refund, students and parent borrowers may instead choose to reduce loan funding disbursed on the account. There are different forms for different situations, so please select the form from the list below and submit to SFS. Requests to reduce a private loan should be emailed to sfs@temple.edu, as there is no form for that situation.

To cancel or reduce a federal Parent PLUS loan
To cancel or reduce a federal Subsidized or Unsubsidized loan
To cancel or reduce a federal single-semester Subsidized or Unsubsidized loan
To cancel or reduce a Graduate Student Loan