Financial Aid Refunds (Delivered Through BankMobile Disbursements)

Financial Aid staff award the maximum amount of federal direct subsidized and unsubsidized Stafford student loans that you are eligible to receive. You receive a notification from Financial Aid in Self-Service Banner regarding the amounts of your awards. You may reduce the amount of your awarded loans (excess funds after paying term registration and book charges), by sending an email to Financial Aid (financialaid@sunyempire.edu) requesting that your loan be reduced prior to the loan funds arriving on your account. Reductions in loan amounts must be requested for each term.

If your approved and authorized financial aid is more than the amount you owe the university, you will receive a financial aid refund when the university receives your financial aid funds. All financial aid refunds are processed through BankMobile Disbursements. For more information about BankMobile please visit: BankMobile Disbursements, Refund Choices and select one of these refund preferences:

You have three options on how to receive your refund:

If you are a new student for summer 2024 – you will be able to set up your BankMobile account once you are registered, and we have received your FAFSA information. Check our FAFSA updates page for the status of the 2024 – 2025 FAFSAs. Once your FAFSA information is received, you will receive a selection kit in the mail from BankMobile Disbursements after you register for studies. You must have a U.S. address on file in order to receive a selection kit. The selection kit contains a letter which includes a personal code. Remember that the email address on your SUNY Empire account is the email that you will initially use with BankMobile. Keep a record of your password so you may access your BankMobile record in case you need to make changes. You may change your refund choice as often as you wish.

You are ultimately responsible for maintaining eligibility for your financial aid. Although we review your eligibility before issuing a financial aid refund, there are circumstances where you may receive a refund from financial aid for which you are no longer eligible. Examples include, but are not limited to:

1. your aid is reduced or canceled
2. you withdrew after the refund was issued.

In every case, regardless of the reason, if you receive a refund from financial aid that you are not eligible for, the funds must be returned.

We cannot issue a refund until your financial aid funds have actually arrived. With the exception of summer terms, this is usually six weeks into the term for students whose financial aid (including a Master Promissory Note for Direct Loans) was in place at the start of the term. If your aid is not in place by the term start, your refund will be delayed. For more information:

• Anticipated Financial Aid Refund Dates
• The Impact of Withdrawing on Current and Future Financial Aid
• Advance of Pending Excess Financial Aid