This policy defines the procedures and conditions for enrollment cancellation, course or program withdrawal, and refund eligibility at Richmindale College.

This policy applies to all students of Richmindale College

If for any reason a student is denied admission or chooses to withdraw from a program or a course, Richmindale College has established this cancellation, withdrawal, and refund policy for the student’s protection.

Students may terminate enrollment at any time by sending a written notification letter to Richmindale College indicating the expected last date of attendance as the cancellation or withdrawal date. Students may send the notification letter via email to cancel@richmindale.com from their registered email, or via postal mail to the following address:

Notification letters sent through postal mail must be duly signed, dated, and placed inside a sealed envelope, and mailed to the address stated above. The cancellation or withdrawal date used for academic, refund, and account purposes is determined under the applicable published policy and governing law. For a post-start time-based refund, Richmindale uses the student’s last date of documented academic attendance or academically related activity unless applicable law requires a different date; the date stated in a late notice does not override a legally required withdrawal-date determination.

Any money due to a student must be refunded within 30 calendar days of a cancellation request, regardless of whether materials have been returned.

An applicant who is denied admission by the school is entitled to a refund of all monies paid.

A student has five (5) calendar days (excluding holidays) after signing an enrollment agreement to cancel enrollment and receive a full refund of all monies paid to Richmindale College. Richmindale provides the refund amount to the student no later than 30 calendar days after receiving the written notice of cancellation.

A student requesting cancellation more than five calendar days after signing an enrollment agreement, but prior to beginning a course or program, is entitled to a refund of all monies paid minus: the application fee; and the one-time registration fee of no more than 20 percent of the tuition and not to exceed $200. Richmindale provides the refund amount no later than 30 calendar days from the cancellation or withdrawal date.

Richmindale applies a time-based term refund policy to its 15-week semesters. For purposes of a post-start refund, the applicable time period is the semester or other published tuition period covered by the enrollment agreement. The withdrawal or termination date used for the refund calculation is the student’s last date of documented academic attendance or academically related activity, unless applicable law requires a different date. Richmindale provides at least the minimum refund required by Arizona law and any more protective applicable accreditation or federal requirement.

Richmindale refunds 100% of tuition charged for any course that the student never starts. Any fee charged in connection with enrollment is refunded or retained only as permitted by applicable law and the published enrollment agreement.

A student requesting cancellation after the commencement of classes is entitled to a refund based on the Table of Charges and Refunds. Richmindale retains the fees described in the Non-Refundable Fees After Commencement of Classes.

Richmindale provides the refund no later than 30 calendar days from the cancellation or withdrawal date.

Students who are on authorized Leave of Absence and failed to return on the scheduled date without notice or without valid reason are withdrawn from their program, and the cancellation or withdrawal date is the date the students were scheduled to return from the leave and failed to do so.

Students who are withdrawn for not returning from authorized leave may be entitled to a refund based on the Table of Charges and Refunds. Richmindale retains the fees described in the Non-Refundable Fees After Commencement of Classes.

Richmindale provides the refund amount no later than 30 calendar days from the cancellation or withdrawal date.

Students who have not demonstrated documented academic engagement in a class for 30 consecutive calendar days are subject to Administrative Withdrawal from that class after required notice. Students who have not demonstrated documented academic engagement in all enrolled classes for 30 consecutive calendar days are subject to Administrative Withdrawal from their program after required notice. The administrative action date is the date Richmindale processes the withdrawal. For refund purposes, the applicable withdrawal date is determined under the Cancellation and Refund After the Commencement of Classes provision using the student’s last date of documented academic attendance or academically related activity, unless applicable law requires a different date. See the Attendance and Participation Policy for more information.

Students who are withdrawn due to Excessive Absences may be entitled to a refund based on the Table of Charges and Refunds. Richmindale retains the fees described in the Non-Refundable Fees After Commencement of Classes.

Richmindale provides the refund amount no later than 30 calendar days from the cancellation date.

A student whose conditional enrollment was approved based on preliminary documentation must cause the required official transcript or equivalent official credential to be received by Richmindale no later than the end of the approved conditional-enrollment period. Before that deadline, Richmindale will provide reasonable notice of the outstanding requirement and may place a registration hold to prevent enrollment in a subsequent period until the condition is resolved.

If the required official documentation is not received by the deadline, Richmindale may administratively withdraw the student after notice and an opportunity to respond. Coursework actually attempted, final grades earned, and other required academic-record information remain on the student’s permanent academic record and transcript in accordance with Richmindale’s policy. Richmindale does not retroactively erase completed Richmindale coursework because the student failed to resolve conditional status. Tuition and refund consequences are determined under the published Cancellation, Withdrawal and Refund Policy based on the student’s actual enrollment and withdrawal date.

Richmindale provides the refund amount no later than 30 calendar days from the cancellation date.

A former student administratively withdrawn for failure to resolve conditional enrollment may apply for readmission after the missing official documentation is available. The student is treated as a returning student, retains the existing Student ID and permanent record, and follows the applicable readmission process rather than being treated as a first-time applicant. Any prior provisional transfer-credit determination is reevaluated against the official documentation.

The Enrollment Agreement identifies a Maximum Program Completion Period, normally 1.5 times the published duration of the program. This calendar completion period is separate from the 15-week semester used as the tuition/refund period and separate from the attempted-credit maximum timeframe under the Satisfactory Academic Progress (SAP) Policy. Richmindale will not withdraw a student merely because completion appears difficult. Before withdrawal under this provision, Richmindale conducts and documents a degree-completion review using the student’s remaining requirements, prerequisite sequence, available future course offerings, approved leaves or interruptions, enrollment limits, and remaining calendar time. Withdrawal occurs only when that review establishes that completion by the contractual deadline is no longer reasonably possible. Students are not permitted to enroll in a semester that would extend beyond the applicable contractual deadline unless an authorized extension is permitted by law and Richmindale’s policy. Any refund is determined under the Table of Charges and Refunds using the published 15-week semester refund schedule.

Richmindale provides the refund amount no later than 30 calendar days from the cancellation date.

A former student whose enrollment ended under this provision may apply for readmission under the applicable Readmission and Reenrollment policies. The student remains a returning student with the existing institutional record and Student ID. Any registration, credit transfer evaluation, or other fee is charged only when the current catalog, Enrollment Agreement, and applicable law expressly authorize the charge for the particular readmission or new program enrollment.

After commencement of classes, Richmindale retains a registration or administrative fee only to the extent permitted by applicable law, never in excess of the published legal limit, and only when the fee is clearly disclosed in the catalog and enrollment agreement. Technology, library, instructional, and other student fees are refunded, prorated, or retained according to whether they have been earned or incurred and only to the extent permitted by applicable law. A fee is not treated as non-refundable merely because it is labeled as a fee. When a state, federal, or accreditation requirement is more protective of the student, the more protective rule controls.

Richmindale does not provide refunds for items that are purchased by students from third-party vendors, such as textbooks, and software licenses and subscriptions.

Note that all cancellation or withdrawal refunds after the commencement of classes apply only to the current or future semesters. Any payments made for the attempted courses in past semesters that had been completed are not refundable.

For a student who withdraws from or is terminated after beginning classes, Richmindale applies the following time-based refund schedule to its 15-week semester and calculates the applicable tuition refund using the published withdrawal date and course-by-course methodology. If a more protective state, federal, or accreditation requirement applies to a particular student or circumstance, the more protective requirement controls. Fees are refunded or retained only to the extent permitted by applicable law and as clearly disclosed in the enrollment agreement.

When a student cancels enrollment after commencement of classes, Richmindale College may retain the application fee, a one-time registration fee of no more than 20 percent of the tuition (not to exceed $200), technology fee, and library services fee, plus a percentage of tuition paid by the student in accordance with the following schedule:

For students enrolled in two or more courses that award semester credit hours, Richmindale College treats each course separately for the purpose of calculating the appropriate amount of tuition refund owed to the student.

Upon cancellation, a student whose costs of education are paid in full, but who is not eligible for a refund, is entitled to receive all materials, including kits and equipment.

Books, materials, software licenses and subscriptions, and other supplies required for course completion that are not provided by Richmindale College are not under its responsibility. Students are responsible for buying these items separately from third-party vendors. Refunds and related fees for these items are subject to the outside third-party vendor policies and terms with the student.

Jordan Smith applied for admission and transfer of credits to a degree program at Richmindale College.

On July 1, Jordan Smith was accepted for admission into a program and paid $100 for the one-time registration fee and $75 for the credit transfer evaluation. On the same day, he enrolled in five 3-credit classes, a total of 15 credits, for a semester with classes that start on September 1.

The semester tuition was $1500, calculated as $100 multiplied by 15 credits. The semester technology fee was $150, calculated as $10 multiplied by 15 credits, and the library services fee was $20. The total cost for the semester was $1670, excluding the registration fee and the credit transfer evaluation fee.

Based on the payment terms, the total cost for the semester was divided into 3 payments. First month was $557, second month was $557, and third month was $556. Jordan Smith paid the first monthly installment (payment 1 of 3) of $557.

One of the courses required a software license. Jordan Smith purchased the software license worth $100^[1] from a third-party vendor on July 7.

Jordan Smith paid a total of $732 as initial payment to Richmindale for his registration fee of $100 and credit transfer evaluation fee $75, and the first installment of his enrolled courses ($557). He also spent $100, separately, on a required software license from a third-party vendor.

Jordan Smith decided to cancel/withdraw and wrote a cancellation notification letter with an expected last date of attendance of July 5, signed and dated the letter, and mailed it to the Richmindale College office on July 5.

The mail took 7 calendar days to reach Richmindale’s office. Richmindale received the mail on July 12. Since Jordan Smith’s expected last date of attendance was July 5, which was within five calendar days after signing the enrollment agreement, and he sent the mail on or before the withdrawal date, Richmindale must refund him all monies paid amounting to $732 within 30 calendar days (by August 4). The refund amount includes the registration fee, the credit transfer evaluation fee, and the first monthly installment.

Jordan Smith decided to cancel/withdraw and sent a notification letter to cancel@richmindale.com via his registered email. The expected last date of attendance in the notification letter was July 7, which fell under cancellation of more than five days from signing of enrollment agreement, but prior to the commencement of classes scheduled on September 1, assuming there were no official holidays from July 1.

Based on this refund policy, Jordan Smith is entitled to a refund of all monies paid minus the registration fee of $100.

Richmindale does not refund the software license that Jordan Smith bought from a third-party vendor.

Richmindale must refund Jordan Smith the amount based on the following calculation:

Jordan Smith attended the classes for the semester that started on September 1. After a few days of classes, he decided to cancel/withdraw and sent a notification letter to cancel@richmindale.com via his official email. The expected last date of attendance in the notification letter was September 14, which fell within the second week of classes from September 1.

Take note that the label used in the week column (first column) of the Table of Charges and Refunds is “Withdrawal AFTER”. Since the withdrawal fell within the 2^nd week of classes, the correct row to be used is Withdrawal AFTER “1^st week”, which has the equivalent percentage of 80% tuition to be returned to the Student minus the non-refundable fees.

Jordan Smith is entitled to a refund based on the following calculation:

^[1]In all cases, the software license purchased by Jordan Smith from a third-party vendor was not included in the refund calculations because it was purchased from a third-party vendor. Richmindale College does not purchase items on behalf of students and is not responsible for third-party purchases.

The Arizona Student Tuition Recovery Fund (STRF) is established to provide relief to eligible students who suffer qualifying financial loss when an Arizona private postsecondary institution ceases operations. In the event of institutional closure, eligible Richmindale College students may seek recovery from the STRF subject to applicable Arizona statutes, State Board rules, filing procedures, and eligibility requirements. Students should consult the Arizona State Board for Private Postsecondary Education for the then-current STRF requirements and claim procedures.

Richmindale College is committed to protecting students when it determines that an academic program, instructional offering, location, delivery arrangement, or the institution itself will be discontinued or materially changed in a manner that could affect a student’s reasonable opportunity to complete an enrolled program.

Before implementing a discontinuation or closure, Richmindale will evaluate the effect on currently enrolled students and develop an appropriate student-protection and teach-out plan consistent with applicable law, Arizona State Board for Private Postsecondary Education requirements, accreditation requirements, contractual obligations, and institutional policy.

Depending on the circumstances, Richmindale may provide one or more of the following:

Richmindale will not knowingly enroll new students into a discontinued program when Richmindale cannot reasonably provide or arrange an appropriate opportunity for those students to complete the program.

Teach-out arrangements do not guarantee that another institution will accept Richmindale credits or admit a Richmindale student. Transfer decisions remain under the authority of the receiving institution.

When regulatory or accreditation approval, notification, or a formal teach-out agreement is required, Richmindale will complete the applicable process before implementing the change to the extent required by governing requirements.

In the event of institutional closure, Richmindale will designate or arrange for an appropriate custodian of permanent academic records and will provide students with available information concerning transcript access, teach-out or transfer options, refunds or applicable student-protection remedies, and relevant state or accreditor procedures.