Consumer information

Credit balances are refundable, upon request from financial sponsor, 30 days after the monthly statement is received for the last month the student was in college in order to be certain that all charges have been processed. For example, if a student drops out of college in December, a full credit refund would not be made until after the January statement is prepared during the first week of February. When the credit balance is large, a portion may be refunded earlier upon request to the Enrollment Services Office.

If the student has a credit balance caused by a financial aid over-award, the necessary credit will be applied to the financial aid funds, according to the Financial Aid Refund Policy. If any credit remains, it will be refunded as described above.

Any refund will be credited back first to any credit card that was used to make payment within 90 days of the refund. If the refund involves a credit card payment exceeding $2,000, the refund will be credited back first to the credit card regardless of the date of payment.

Transfer credits may be applied toward the requirements for a degree when the student has satisfactorily completed a minimum of 12 semester hours in residence. Credit by examination taken at other colleges will be accepted according to Southern Adventist University standards (see “University Credit by Examination” in the Academic Policies section of the Catalog). A maximum of 72 semester hours may be accepted from a college where the highest degree offered is the associate degree. Background deficiencies revealed by transcripts and entrance examinations will be given individual attention.

The criteria for evaluating transfer work from an accredited school is based on guidelines given in Transfer Credit Practices AACRAO 2010 guide. The ACE recommendation guide is used for evaluating transcripts for the veterans of the armed forces. Credit may be considered for courses taken at institutions which are not regionally accredited only after the student has completed at least 16 semester hours at Southern Adventist University with a 2.00 or better average. Transfer courses that are comparable to Southern Adventist University courses may be recorded with an earned grade of “C-“ or higher. All college transfer work from Tennessee will be recorded to meet the requirements of the HOPE scholarship. Transfer credit from international foreign schools must be evaluated by a credentialed foreign evaluator. As a general rule, accredited international institution credit is usually issued with pass/fail grades.

A student who has been dismissed from another institution because of poor scholarship or citizenship, or who is on probation from that institution, is not generally eligible for admission until s/he can qualify for readmission to the institution from which s/he has been dismissed.