Disbursing Your Aid & Refunds

Disbursing Financial Aid

When is Financial Aid Disbursed?

Please review your MyUH Services to check your disbursement status.

Disbursement begins no earlier than ten days prior to the start of your courses. If your courses start later than the standard semester start date (such as extension or courses on an irregular schedule), your disbursement may be delayed until you have started enrollment in all of your courses (12 applicable credits or more as an undergraduate student or 8 credits or more as a graduate student) at University of Hawai’i at Mānoa campus only. If you are enrolled in less than the number of credits listed above, please complete the Enrollment Form or your disbursement may be delayed. Visit the Important Dates & Deadlines Calendar.

Disbursement Requirements

Please review your MyUH Services to check your outstanding requirements status.

Satisfy all outstanding requirements (Check your MyUH Services)

  •  If you are borrowing a student loan (Subsidized, Unsubsidized, and/or Grad PLUS Loan(s), you must accept your terms and conditions, accept your loans on your portal, and complete the loan requirements. To complete the loan requirements, please go to studentaid.gov.
  • If you are a dependent student and your parent is borrowing a Parent PLUS Loan, your parent must complete all required loan requirements. To complete the loan requirements, please have your parent go to studentaid.gov.

Outside Scholarship Disbursement

  • Timeframe – When Financial Aid Services receives a scholarship check from an outside donor, it takes approximately 15-30 days to process the scholarship check.
    • Financial Aid Services must record the funds received (approximately one week to process)
    • Cashier’s Office enters funds received to the student’s tuition account (approximately one week to process)
    • Refund process (approximately one week to process)
  • Paper check payable to UH Mānoa – If you will be receiving a scholarship check from an outside donor (e.g. Hawai’i Community Foundation/Harriet Bouslog/Unity House) and the scholarship is made payable to the University of Hawai’i at Mānoa only, your scholarship will be applied towards your University of Hawai’i at Mānoa Tuition, Fees and Student Housing charges and all residual amounts will be refunded to you. 
  • Paper check payable to student and UH Mānoa – If your scholarship check is a co-payable check made out to you and the University of Hawai’i at Mānoa, you must endorse the scholarship at the Cashier’s Office and apply it towards your University of Hawai’i at Mānoa Tuition, Fees and Student Housing charges and all residual amounts will be refunded to you.
  • Enrollment – External scholarship(s) will be based on full-time status (undergraduate students 12 credits, graduate students 8 credits, Medical students 12 credits, and Law students 12 credits) enrolled at the University of Hawai’i at Mānoa Campus Only unless specifically stated in writing by the scholarship donor(s).

Reasons why your financial aid may not be disbursed

  • You are not enrolled in 12 credits or more as an Undergraduate student (applicable to your degree) or 8 credits or more as a Graduate student at University of Hawai’i at Mānoa Campus Only.
    • Go to our Forms page and complete the Enrollment Form if you will be less than full time.
  • You did not accept your Terms and Conditions and/or accept your Financial Aid Offer. You may accept your Terms and Conditions and your Financial Aid Offer on your MyUH Services.
  • You did not complete the necessary outstanding requirements.
    •   Go to your MyUH Services to review your outstanding requirements.
  • Disbursement did not occur. Disbursement is Monday, Tuesday, and Friday mornings and cannot occur any sooner than 10 days before the start of your courses.
  • Please review your MyUH Services.
  • Your course(s) do not count towards your degree. 

Financial Aid Refunds

Please review your MyUH Services to check your disbursement status.

     

  • Refund – The University of Hawai’i Cashier’s Office will process your refund if the amount of financial aid disbursed exceeds your eligible institutional charges ( i.e. tuition, fees, on-campus housing, meal plan) on your student account.
  • Negative Balance – If you see a negative balance on your student account, that means you have a credit balance, and a refund will be issued to you. You will know that your refund has been generated when the negative credit balance goes to a zero balance and you see a transaction posted on your student account that reads, “Refund ACH Direct Deposit”, “Refund” and/or “Refund Check Parent Loan”.

Enroll in Direct Deposit eRefunds (Students Only)

eRefund allows for the transfer of funds electronically from one U.S. bank account to another so you no longer have to wait for your check to come in the mail. Enroll in Direct Deposit eRefunds.

Processing Time

Your refund will be available approximately 10 to 14 business days after your financial aid funds have been disbursed into your account.

How Refunds are Processed

The remaining credit balance will be refunded to you in one of three ways:

Refund ACH Direct Deposit

If you have signed up for Direct Deposit eRefund (electronic refund) your funds will be deposited directly into your bank account. Direct Deposit eRefunds are a quick, secure, and convenient way to get your credit balance refunds. For additional information and how to set up the eRefund, see Refunds.

Refund

A paper check mailed to your current mailing address that is displayed on your MyUH Services.

Refund Check Parent Loan

In certain situations, if your balance is being paid by the Parent PLUS loan, your refund check may be sent directly to your parent.

 

Questions on Your Refund

If you have any questions on your refund or your tuition account you may contact the Cashier’s Office at (808) 956-7554 or billpayment-l@lists.hawaii.edu .  Please include your name and UH student ID in the subject line of your email inquiry.

What Can I Use the Refund for?

Refunds may be used to pay any other educational related expenses. If subsequent charges are made to your account, you are responsible for paying them. 

Balance Not Covered by Financial Aid

If there is a balance after financial aid has been disbursed, you may pay your balance online at MyUH Services or mail payment to:

University of Hawai’i at Mānoa Cashier’s Office
2600 Campus Road, QLC 105
Honolulu, HI 96822
Please make checks payable to University of Hawai’i at Mānoa.

Return of Funds

If your loan has been disbursed within 30 days from the date of the loan disbursement, you may go to the Online Change Request Form to cancel/decrease your loan amount. However, if any portion of the loan was used to pay tuition, book charges, housing, or meal plan you will have an outstanding balance. It will be your responsibility to pay your outstanding balance in a timely manner to avoid holds on your account.

If your loan has been disbursed more than 30 days from the date of the loan disbursement or if you wish to return a partial amount of the loan, contact your loan servicer for repayment options. To view your loan servicer’s contact information, please visit studentaid.gov.