Policies and Deadlines

According to the Hawai‘i Pacific University Registration Policies, by registering for courses, Hawai‘i Pacific University students agree to comply with all requirements for registration and fulfill all financial obligations related to enrollment. 

Students are responsible for paying the difference between their expected charges and expected financial aid. Accepted and authorized financial aid will not begin posting to qualified student accounts until the Wednesday before the term begins. However, the difference between expected charges and expected financial aid is always due two (2) weeks before the start of each term. If a student is unable to pay the difference by the deadline, students may enroll in Monthly Payment Plans offered by HPU. Tuition due dates can be found in the Academic Calendar under each term. 

Any other charges, such as other university fees listed under the Tuition and Fee Schedule, must be paid within 30 calendar days of posting to a student's account to be eligible for waiving of any late fees incurred during that time. After 30 calendar days, students will owe any late fees incurred in addition to the original charges.

Housing deposits are not eligible for a refund to the student unless there is a remaining credit on the student’s account after all charges, including non-housing charges, are paid.

If you received a returned item notice, it means your financial institution could not process the requested transfer to Hawaii Pacific University’s bank for one reason or another. The most common reasons are “Non-Sufficient Funds (NSF)” and “Invalid Account Number: Please Verify with Customer/Employee.” The returned item email will specify the exact reason for the returned item. Should you have additional questions about why there was a returned item, please contact your personal financial institution.

If your bank returns your payment for any reason, you will be charged a $30.00 returned item fee. If this fee is not paid, late fees and administrative holds will be applied to your account. Any outstanding balance plus the returned item fee must be paid in full before your hold will be removed. Please note that if your payment was processed through Transact, you will also be charged a $25.00 returned item fee by Transact.

After three (3) occurrences of returned items, the following will be enforced:

• A manual hold will be applied to the student account. The student must contact ar@hpu.edu every time he or she wishes to view grades or unofficial transcripts, order official transcripts, or register for courses. If the account is in good standing, we may lift the hold for seven (7) calendar days. The hold returns to the account on the eighth (8^th) calendar day. Holds will not be removed if there is an outstanding balance.
• All future payments must be made in the form of credit card, cash, cashier’s check, or money order.
• Online bank account payments will not be accepted, unless the student contacts the Business Office to remove the codes that will prevent online payment with a bank account. 
• Personal checks will not be accepted. If a personal check is submitted to the Business Office, it will be returned to the issuer as not-cashed.

Hawaii Pacific University understands that sometimes accidents happen when managing your funds. We are willing to work with the student or parent/guardian to ensure the student's balance is paid in full. Please contact us at ar@hpu.edu should you have further questions about repayment plans.

Financial holds are applied to student accounts with past due balances.  A past due balance is a balance comprised of any charges at least 1 month old from the term tuition due date (Each term's tuition due date can be found in the Academic Calendar). All other charges are considered outstanding if they are at least 1 month old after the posted date.

Types of Financial Holds

• Account Balance – Any past due balance, regardless of amount.
• Student Account Superhold – The past due balance is $5,000 or more. This hold is in addition to the Account Balance hold.
• Discretionary Financial Hold – The Business Office has placed a discretionary financial hold on the student account that will not be lifted until specific requirements are fulfilled. Please contact the Business Office for more information. 

Effects of Financial Holds

If there are any financial holds on a student account, the following actions will be prevented:

• Viewing grades
• Adding/Dropping courses
• Requesting official or unofficial transcripts
• Receiving diploma after graduation

Placement of Financial Holds

The Business Office applies financial holds according to the dates designated in the Academic Calendar.

Removing Financial Holds

The only way to remove financial holds is to pay off the past due balance in full. For more information on how you can pay your past due balance, please contact the Business Office at ar@hpu.edu. Financial Aid may also assist you in obtaining an alternative loan to pay your past due balance. 

If your overall account balance is negative, you may be able to request a refund for the overpayment. To review your account balance for any overpayments, log in to MyHPU. On the left menu, under Student Services, select Business & Payments. You will then be taken to your account in Transact. On the left menu in Transact, select Activity Details. 

The overpayment may be eligible for one of three types of refunds, each of which are processed in a different way.

The three types of refunds are

• Financial Aid: A financial aid refund is processed for an overpayment from financial aid items (FAFSA loans, alternative loans, Federal Pell Grant, etc). This refund is processed automatically by the Grants and Federal Aid Department. More information about financial aid refunds can be found here
• Housing Deposit: The Accounts Receivable Department will automatically process housing deposit refunds once the Housing Department releases the housing deposits to eligible student accounts. This credit is applied first towards housing charges (if any) and then to any balances owed to the University (if any). If there is a remaining credit after these two categories of charges are satisfied, the student will receive a refund. 
• Account Credit: To be eligible for an account credit refund, the overpayment must be the result of student payments or other payments made on behalf of the student. If you have a credit on your account that is not related to financial aid or housing, you have two options: 1) leave the credit as is so that it can be applied to future charges at HPU or 2) request a refund of the credit. To request the account credit be issued as a refund, please complete this Account Credit Refund Request form. The account credit refund can only be issued to the student, regardless of the original payer. 

Learn more about refunds on our website: hpu.edu/refunds. 

Outstanding Student Account Balances Related to Disciplinary Suspension or Expulsion

Policy

If a student violates University expectations as outlined in The Hawaii Pacific University (HPU) Student Handbook, the student may be subject to suspension (an involuntary withdrawal or dismissal from the University for a specified number of semesters), or permanent expulsion from the University.

Guidelines

A student who is suspended or expelled from the University forfeits all payments for tuition, fees, or housing incurred for the semester/part of term the incident occurred as well as any prior terms. Any outstanding student account balances are the responsibility of the student for payment.

The student will be sent to collections for an unpaid balance as part of the normal collections process.

If the next semester/part of term has not yet begun and payments for tuition and fees have been received, the student may receive a refund, less any financial aid received, and less any outstanding account balances from the current and prior terms. The student will be administratively dropped from classes for the next semester/part of term and related charges will be removed from his/her student account. Because housing is awarded on an academic year basis, no refund will be given for housing.

Refunds will not be distributed until all disciplinary procedures, including the appeals process, are complete.

The University may, in its sole discretion, place a hold on the student's academic records at the time of the incident, which will limit access to transcripts and other educational records until the disciplinary process is complete.

Any student expelled from the University must refrain from visiting the University premises except when engaged in official business approved in writing by the Dean of Students or designee.

HPU Student Handbook

This Business Office policy is referenced in the HPU Student Handbook. The university reserves the right to change any of the policies, rules, regulations, and standards of conduct at any time as may be necessary in the interest of the university. The university also reserves the right to modify or discontinue any of the services, programs or activities described in the HPU Student Handbook.

The most up-to-date handbook can be found online at www.hpu.edu/studenthandbook