Tuition, Fees, and Refund Policy

Refund Policy.  For students withdrawing from school after classes begin, the tuition charges retained for each term will be determined as follows:

The withdrawal date is the student’s last recorded date of academic attendance, as determined by the school from its attendance records.

The last date of attendance for an official withdrawal shall be the last date of attendance recorded in the instructors' attendance records. 

Tuition credit adjustments will be applied within 30 days of the last date of attendance.

Five-day Cancellation Policy:  A student may cancel their enrollment and request a refund of any applicable fees within five days after signing an enrollment agreement. All monies will be refunded within three days.

Grace Period Policy:  Students enrolling for the first time in a program of study at South Hills School of Business & Technology may attend classes up to and including the fifth school day in the first term of studies without incurring tuition or program fees if the student decides to no longer attend South Hills School. Students enrolled and/or returning students not defined as first time in a program of study at South Hills School of Business & Technology may be extended the same "grace policy" for a period of up to 7 calendar days if no contact with the school has been made and up to 14 calendar days if contact with the school has been made. Under this grace policy, the institution will credit any tuition fees the student may have incurred during the grace period and will rescind all of the student's financial aid that may have become earned by the institution in the grace period. Students who withdraw at any other time in the term or beyond the grace period will not be extended this grace period; tuition fees and financial aid will be prorated accordingly.

Title IV Refund Policy.  The Financial Aid Office is required by Federal statute to recalculate Federal financial aid eligibility for students who withdraw, drop out, or are dismissed prior to completing 60 percent of a payment period or term.  The Federal Title IV financial aid program must be recalculated in these situations.

If a student leaves South Hills prior to completing 60 percent of a payment period or term, the business office recalculates eligibility for Title IV funds.  Recalculation is based on the percentage of earned aid using the following Federal Return of Title IV Funds formula:  Percentage of payment period or term equals the number of days completed up to the withdrawal date divided by the total days in the payment period or term.  (Any break of five days or more is not counted as part of the days in the term.) Calendar days for each term during the enrollment period are as follows:  Fall 2021, 86; Winter 2021-2022, 83; Spring 2022, 87; 10 week Summer 2022, 71; 12 week Summer 2022, 86.

Funds are returned to the appropriate Federal program based on the percentage of unearned aid using the following formula:  Aid to be returned equals 100% of the aid disbursed/could have been disbursed minus the percentage of the earned aid.

If a student earned less aid than was disbursed, the school is required to return a portion of the funds and the student is required to return a portion of the funds. Keep in mind that when Title IV funds are returned, the student borrower may owe a  balance to the school.

If a student earned more aid than was disbursed to him/her, the school owes the student a post-withdrawal disbursement which must be paid within 180 days of the date the school determines that the student withdrew.

South Hills School must return the amount of Title IV funds for which it is responsible no later than 45 days after the determined date of the student’s withdrawal.

Refunds are allocated in the following order:

Ÿ Unsubsidized Direct Loans (other than PLUS loans)

Ÿ Subsidized Direct Loans

Ÿ Direct PLUS Loans

Ÿ Federal Pell Grants for which a return of funds is required

Refunds for Courses Dropped After the Term Has Commenced.  If credits dropped do not change the student status, i.e. full-time, three-quarter time, half-time, or less than half-time, there are no refunds.

If a change of student status does occur, the regular refund policy rates apply in proportion to the length of time that a student is in the original status.

If a student drops to less than half-time, he/she will pay the remainder of the term on a per-credit basis and will be refunded the difference between the original cost and the new cost times the applicable refund percentage.

All students who wish to drop a course or withdraw from school are asked to complete an official drop or withdrawal form. This assures that any refund due is processed accordingly and that the change becomes a matter of record.

Books and Supplies.  Books and supplies are not part of the total tuition cost.  South Hills School does not sell books.  The school has an agreement with the Student Bookstore (SBS) to be a provider of textbooks.  Students may choose another vender if they desire.

A student may charge books to his/her account if the student has sufficient financial aid to cover the book charges and if he/she orders from SBS.

Termination.  South Hills School of Business & Technology reserves the right to require a student to withdraw for cause at any time.  Grounds for termination by the school can be found in the Student Information section of the school catalog under “Code of Conduct”.

Automatic Withdrawal. If a student is absent from school for 14 consecutive calendar days, the student will be withdrawn from school.  Each student has the responsibility of notifying the school’s academic office and financial aid office of an extended absence by the third day of said absence. Any exception to this policy will be at the discretion of the Director of Education following an appeal made to the Director of the School and/or the Director of Education.

Complaint Procedure.  Should the student or parent(s) or guardian(s) have questions or concerns regarding the School’s satisfying the terms of the enrollment agreement, he/she/they should contact the school Director.

The school is licensed by the State Board of Private Licensed Schools.  Questions or concerns that are not satisfactorily resolved by the person designated above or by other school officials may be brought to the attention of the State Board of Private Licensed Schools, 333 Market Street, 12th floor, Harrisburg, PA 17126-0333 in writing.

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