Payment of Awards As explained in the award notification, your financial aid (except college work-study) will be applied as a direct payment to your charges of tuition and room and board. One-half of the value of your award will be credited to your account for each semester and will appear on the billings mailed to you in July and December. As Stafford loans cannot be disbursed until immediately prior to the beginning of the enrollment period, loan proceeds will not be reflected on initial billings each semester, but will be credited to your account when available. Federal regulations allow financial aid to be automatically credited to a student's tuition and fees and room and board charges. Permission to credit aid for any other charges is gathered at the time the student applicant completes the university aid application. However, the student has the right to rescind this permission at any time by contacting the Financial Aid Office. Guidelines governing refunds for students who withdraw from classes or from the university are outlined in the university catalog and the U of I refund policy brochure. Students who have credited aid that exceeds charges may pick up a refund check the first day of classes each semester. After the first day of classes, financial aid that credits the student's account and creates a credit balance by Wednesday of each week will generate a refund that will normally be available by the following Friday. However, students who are paying university charges through the Academic Management Services (AMS) payment plan are not eligible to receive any credit balance refunds until the AMS contract is paid in full and the university has received all payments.