Return of Excess Financial Aid Funds

Students may be awarded several different types of financial aid; federal student loans, federal grants, New York State grants, scholarship, veteran’s funding, and employer sponsorship to list a few. Some forms of financial aid may only be applied to a student’s tuition costs while others are for a student’s overall cost of attendance.

When your federal direct Stafford loans arrive on your account, Student Accounts sends an email to the email address on your account. The email provides information about the ability to cancel all or part of your loan(s) within 14 days of the disbursement date.

To initiate a return of funds to the lender, contact Student Accounts at studentaccounts@esc.edu and indicate your name, student ID and the amount of excess loan funds that you want returned to the lender. Depending upon the refund preference that you have selected at BankMobile Disbursements, Student Accounts may not be able to process your return. Action available is based on the refund preference selected:

BankMobile Disbursements direct deposit/ACH transfer: Direct deposit transactions begin as soon as the funds appear on your BankMobile Disbursements record and Student Accounts cannot access these funds to process a return to the lender. You would need to mail a personal check or money order payable to SUNY Empire State College, and send to Student Accounts, 111 West Avenue, Saratoga Springs, NY 12866 along with a letter/note requesting the loan funds to be returned to the lender on your behalf.

BankMobile Vibe account:  If you have not accessed any of the funds deposited in your BankMobile Vibe account from a recent refund, Student Accounts is able to reverse the entire refund amount from BankMobile Disbursements and return the funds to your ESC account. A return to the lender could then be initiated from the ESC account.  

BankMobile Disbursements paper check: If you have a BankMobile Disbursements check less than 30 days old, you may:

• Option 1:  Endorse the BankMobile check with your signature and below that write, “Pay to the Order of Empire State College”. Send the check along with a letter/note requesting the loan funds to be returned to the lender, to Student Accounts, 111 West Avenue, Saratoga Springs, NY 12866
• Option 2:  You may deposit your BankMobile check to your own account and send a personal check or money order to Student Accounts, 111 West Avenue, Saratoga Springs, NY 12866 along with a letter/note requesting the loan funds to be returned to the lender. 

If you have not selected a refund preference, a default paper check will be mailed by BankMobile Disbursements approximately 20 days after the funds have arrived on your BankMobile record. If you contact Student Accounts prior to the default check being issued and request that the funds be returned to the lender, Student Accounts will reverse the refund amount from BankMobile Disbursements and return the funds to your ESC account. A return to the lender can then be processed.

An email confirmation is sent to students by Financial Aid whenever a return of direct Stafford loan funds has been processed.

To review your level of student loan indebtedness, you may view your borrowing history at studentloans.gov.