HDH Estimates Five-Week Delay for Housing Refund

Housing Dining Hospitality (HDH) sent out an email on April 1 which estimated that Spring Quarter 2020 housing and dining refunds may take up to five weeks to appear in students’ accounts. This announcement comes a few days after the March 29 deadline for contract termination.

According to HDH, the refund process was delayed because each student’s account must be assessed and confirmed individually by HDH, the Financial Aid and Scholarships Office, Triton Card Accounts, the Cashier’s Office, and Student Financial Solutions.

“It’s really frustrating that we have to wait up to five weeks for a housing refund. The whole thing was done very abruptly,” said Thisha Thiagarajan, a second-year Eleanor Roosevelt College (ERC) student who lived in the ERC apartments before terminating her housing contract. “Obviously the situation was not something that could have been planned for ahead of time, but it would help to have the money back sooner rather than later.”

The refund, titled “SP20 HSG RM+DINING CREDIT” in the billing description, will include Spring Quarter 2020 Housing and Dining, as well as any leftover Dining Dollars from Fall Quarter 2019 and Winter Quarter 2020.

“Students are reviewed individually to learn if they receive financial aid,” Leslie Sepuka, associate director for communications told The Triton. “When a student chooses to move home with [their] parents, this would result in a reduction to spring cost of attendance and likely a reduction to their financial aid for spring.”

Once a student moves off campus, their Dining Dollars account is closed and refunds are credited to their student account. No housing late fees will be applied until all refunds are returned to students.

All terminations of spring quarter housing received March 13–29 will be billed through the end of winter quarter (March 21), regardless of when the student moved out between March 13–31,” said Sepuka.

For students who pay on a monthly basis, April billing statements, available April 1 and due April 24, still include spring housing and dining charges. HDH suggests that these students should either pay the entire bill amount by the due date and then wait for the housing refund or pay all non-housing charges either in-person or by mail to the Student Services Center Cashier’s Office.

Students will be notified when refunds are being posted to their account and will receive funds either via direct deposit or a check sent to one’s residence.

Sahana Narayan is an Assistant News Editor for The Triton. You can follow her @saharadesert00.