<p>I am a college freshman this year, or at least I was. I dropped out of school due to personal reasons earlier this month. I was getting a full-ride from my university, and I actually was refunded money from too much financial aid. Because my scholarship was full-ride, I didn't pay a PENNY at ALL.</p>
<p>But that's the problem: I didn't pay ANYTHING but my university keeps sending me refund checks. I formally dropped out and it even says so on my record, but they keep sending me money. I don't think I should be getting checks with refunds, especially thousands of dollars worth. Should I call the office and tell them they're giving me free money that I'm not supposed to have? What penalties could I face if I just destroy the checks and ignore them?</p>
<p>I'm pretty sure I didn't pay anything. I asked my parents to check their bank records, I've checked my bank records, and everything else that involves money and receipts. Room/Board was all paid by an outside donor. We shouldn't be getting ANY refunds at all.</p>
<p>You should contact the school to inform them. There shouldn’t be any issues if you don’t spend any of the money, cash the check, etc. It definitely sounds like there has been some oversight on the school’s end if you went through the entire withdrawal process correctly. I would double check and make sure all of your courses were dropped and you are no longer registered. </p>
<p>Not sure, but if you used any outside scholarships, and now dropped out, you could have to pay back the organization or donors. Use the refund checks to pay back those. After all, they paid for something you aren’t using now. They should get their money back.</p>
<p>Make sure your federal loans weren’t disbursed to the college. If they were, then you might need to pay those back and that might be why you are getting checks. Pell, also, I believe there is a formula for figuring out what you would need to pay back (if anything). Best to contact the financial aid office ASAP and go over some of these things just to make sure you haven’t triggered something by dropping out.</p>