When an overpayment occurs on a Billing and Accounts Receivable (BAR) account, a refund is generated to the student. Learn about BruinBill Refund Methods.
Refund Schedule
The frequency of refund processing is determined by the refund method.
- BruinDirect: This student only refund method runs nightly, Monday through Friday, and refunds are deposited directly into a student’s bank account.
- Summer Sessions Refund: The Summer Sessions Office has requested refunds to their students be processed only once a week, regardless of the refund method.
- Paper Check Refund: This is the default refund method for students who have not enrolled in BruinDirect and for all non-student accounts. This refund type runs Thursday night only. All Summer Session refunds are also processed on Thursday night.
Procedure
The refund process varies by refund method.
- BruinDirect: Each night BAR generates a list of students enrolled in BruinDirect who have a credit balance and produces a file for the Student Accounts Office (SAO) to approve. The next morning, SAO staff examine the refund file to ensure that there are no anomalies in the refunds to be processed that evening, and to verify that no duplication of refunds has occurred. Once reviewed, the Payment Solutions & Compliance (PSC) approves the Transact Payments refund file and the credit balances are sent to the respective banking institutions for each student, at the end of each business day from Monday to Friday. BAR accounts are updated after the refunds have processed.
- Paper Refunds: Thursday night, the BAR system looks for all accounts that have a credit balance of $25.00 or more and generates a refund issued entry in BAR. Student Accounts reviews the refund file on Friday to ensure that there are no anomalies in the refunds to be processed that evening, and to verify that no duplication of refunds has occurred. Paper checks are produced by Accounts Payable and mailed out on Monday. The student’s mailing address is used for student checks, and the billing address is used for non-student refund checks. Refer to Address Types Used by BAR in Related Information.
Data Display
BAR screen 412 displays detailed information regarding refunds generated by BAR and Transact Payments. The screen provides the following information:
- Date the refund was processed
- Amount of the refund
- Method of the refund (BruinDirect or mail)
- BruinDirect banking institution
