Setting refund policies for CHOOSE Act students, returning a refund to a student’s ESA, and notifying ALDOR when a participating student leaves.
You set your own refund policy. Every education service provider, participating schools included, decides its own refund terms — the program does not impose one.
There is one rule of fairness: your refund policy for CHOOSE Act students has to be the same as your refund policy for everyone else. You cannot apply different refund terms because a student is a CHOOSE Act participant.
When a refund is due, it goes back to the student’s ESA — not to the family directly. ALDOR publishes the steps for returning funds to a participating student’s ESA; follow that process so the money lands where it belongs.
A participating school has to notify the Alabama Department of Revenue (ALDOR) within 10 business days whenever a participating student is no longer enrolled — whether they graduated, withdrew, or left for any other reason.
You make that notification using the CHOOSE Act Alabama Student Un-Enrollment Form for Participating Schools. The 10-business-day window is short, so build the form into your normal withdrawal and graduation process rather than treating it as an afterthought.
Related: For participating schools
It depends on your own policy and your contract. The CHOOSE Act program does not require a participating school to refund mid-year tuition; you set your refund terms, the same way you would for any student.
If a refund is due because your contract with the family calls for one, it goes back to the student’s ESA, following ALDOR’s published process for returning funds to an ESA. The contract you sign with any family still governs — CHOOSE Act participation does not change it — and your refund terms have to be the same for CHOOSE Act and non-CHOOSE Act students alike.