Did you get a tuition refund? It’s that money you get back if you had more money in your account than needed for this semester’s tuition. Some of us got a couple hundred, while others got thousands directly deposited into our bank accounts! Imagine how excited you’d be getting that notice. No matter its amount, it’s still free money, right?
A lot of us think it is. We didn’t have to work for it, so it must be free. We end up getting so excited about it that we end up splurging on it without a second thought. I won’t burst your bubble and say it 100% isn’t, but I will share with you steps below on how to figure out how much of your tuition refund is actually free.
- Log into your Leo Online and click the Financial Aid tab.
- Select My Overall Status of Financial Aid and the appropriate school year.
- Once you hit submit, click on the awarded hyperlink.
- Click on the Resources/Additional Information tab to view your outside agency scholarships.
- Lastly, click on the Accept Award Offer tab to view your financial aid package.
All outside agency and ODU scholarships are free money, whereas loans need to be repaid and are charged interest. If you accepted any loans, chances are your tuition refund is loan money. However, you may still have free money, if your outside agency scholarships exceed the amount of your accepted loans. If this is the case, you can choose to keep your entire refund check or pay back your loans to avoid any interests from accumulating. For assistance, please visit the Office of Student Financial Aid (https://www.odu.edu/content/odu/tuition-aid/financial-aid.html).
Now that you know how much of your tuition refund is and isn’t free money, what are you going to do with it? Will you splurge on it, set it aside for other expenses, or pay back some of your loans?
