Tuition & Fees ~ Refund of Fees Including Nonresident Tuition

Regulations governing the refund of mandatory fees, including nonresident tuition, for students enrolling at the California State University are included in Section 41802 of Title 5, California Code of Regulations. For purposes of the refund policy, mandatory fees are defined as those systemwide fees and campus fees that are required to be paid in order to enroll in state-supported academic programs at the California State University. Refunds of fees and tuition charges for self-support programs at the California State University (courses offered through extended education) are governed by a separate policy established by the university.

In order to receive a full refund of mandatory fees, including nonresident tuition, you must cancel registration or drop all courses prior to the first day of instruction for the term. Information on procedures and deadlines for canceling registration and dropping classes is available in the Records & Registration section of the CSUMB.EDU/catalog website and on the CSUMB.EDU/csc website. You should call the Campus Service Center or check the Academic Calendar webpages to determine exact deadline dates for fee refunds.

For state-supported semesters, quarters, and nonstandard terms or courses of four weeks or more, if you withdraw during the term in accordance with the university's established procedures, you will receive a refund of mandatory fees, including nonresident tuition, based on the portion of the term during which you were enrolled. No student withdrawing after the 60 percent point in the term will be entitled to a refund of any mandatory fees or nonresident tuition.

For state-supported semesters, quarters, and nonstandard terms or courses of less than four weeks, no refunds of mandatory fees and nonresident tuition will be made unless you cancel registration or drop all classes prior to the first day in accordance with the university's established procedures and deadlines.

You will also receive a refund of mandatory fees, including nonresident tuition, under the following circumstances:

  • The tuition and mandatory fees were assessed or collected in error.
  • The course for which the tuition and mandatory fees were assessed or collected was cancelled by the university.
  • The university makes a delayed decision that you were not eligible to enroll in the term for which mandatory fees were assessed and collected and the delayed decision was not due to incomplete or inaccurate information provided by you.
  • You were activated for compulsory military service.

If you are not entitled to a refund as described above, you may petition the university for a refund demonstrating exceptional circumstances and the chief financial officer of the university or designee may authorize a refund if it is determined that the fees and tuition were not earned by the university.

Information concerning any aspect of the refund of fees may be obtained from the Student Accounts Receivable Department.

Payment of Refunds

All refunds will be assessed an administrative processing fee. Refunds will be applied first toward any required return of funds that had been received by or on behalf of you from federal, state, institutional, or external sources that were conditioned on your enrollment, and second against other amounts due to CSUMB.

If you officially drop courses before the end of the add/drop period and it results in a change from fulltime to part-time status, your refund will be mailed four to six weeks after the close of the add/drop period. If you officially withdraw or cancel all classes prior to the 60 percent point in the term, your prorata refund will be mailed four to six weeks from the date that we receive your official notification. If you officially withdraw or cancel all classes, you must turn in your ID card to the Campus Service Center before your refund will be released.

Refund of Registration Fees to Title 4 Financial Aid Recipients

If you were awarded financial aid and you are withdrawing, you must see a Financial Aid Office representative to discuss eligibility, rights and responsibilities, reasonable academic progress requirements, and future aid eligibility. If you were awarded financial aid and you fail to officially withdraw, you may be subject to total aid cancellation. In addition, financial aid monies allocated to you may need to be refunded to Title 4 programs, or you may need to repay a portion of the funds received, if you withdraw, drop out, are expelled, or otherwise become ineligible during the payment period. A copy of this policy is available at the Financial Aid Office and the Administration and Finance Division.

Veteran Refund Policy

For veteran students, CSUMB maintains a policy for the refund of the unused portion of tuition, fees, and other charges in the event that you fail to enter the course, withdraw, or discontinue therefrom at any time prior to the completion of the course. The policy provides that the amount charged to you for tuition, fees, and other charges for a portion of the course does not exceed the approximate prorata portion of the total charges for tuition, fees, and other charges that the length of the completed portion of the course bears to its total length, except that $5 of the registration fee is not subject to proration.

Note: Adopted at the California State University system level and mandated for inclusion in all CSU campus catalogs , gray-colored text applies to all 23 campuses in the system. Black text pertains uniquely to CSUMB.