To cancel Penn Foster, send a cancellation notice to the Learner Success Center by phone, email, or first class mail. High School and Career School students can use any of those three methods; College students must cancel in writing, by email or mail only. Cancel within 5 calendar days of signing your enrollment agreement (6 days for College) and you owe nothing. Miss that window and you’ll owe a percentage of tuition based on how many assignments you’ve submitted.
The Refund Window That Decides Everything
The calendar days run from the date you signed your enrollment agreement, not from the day you logged in or received your materials.
- High School: 5 calendar days for a full refund. Cancel by phone, email, or first class mail.1Penn Foster. Penn Foster Cancellation Policy
- Career School: 5 calendar days for a full refund. Same three methods.1Penn Foster. Penn Foster Cancellation Policy
- College: 6 calendar days for a full refund. Email or first class mail only. Phone cancellations are not accepted for College enrollees.1Penn Foster. Penn Foster Cancellation Policy
If you’re a College student and you call to cancel, Penn Foster may not honor it. The policy requires written notice.2Penn Foster. Penn Foster Refund Policy
How to Submit Your Cancellation
By Phone (High School and Career School Only)
Call the Learner Success Center at 1-888-427-1500, Monday through Friday, 9:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. Eastern Time.3Penn Foster. Contact Penn Foster Have your Student ID number ready; it’s on your invoices and inside your online account. Ask the representative to confirm the cancellation date and request written confirmation by email so you have a record.
By Email
All three programs accept email cancellations. You can send the message through the Learner Center or the contact channels in your program’s catalog.3Penn Foster. Contact Penn Foster Include your full legal name, Student ID number, program name, and a clear statement that you are canceling your enrollment. Email creates a timestamped record, which is what you’ll want if there is ever a dispute about the date.
By First Class Mail
Send your cancellation letter to the Learner Success Center at 200 Hickory Street, Scranton, PA 18505.3Penn Foster. Contact Penn Foster Use certified mail with return receipt requested. The receipt proves the date Penn Foster received the letter. Include the same identifying details you would put in an email, and keep a copy of the letter for your records.
What You Owe After the Window Closes
Once the 5- or 6-day window has passed, the amount you owe depends on how far into the program you’ve gotten. Penn Foster measures progress by comparing your submitted assignments against the total number of assignments in your program.2Penn Foster. Penn Foster Refund Policy
For Career School programs, the schedule works like this:
- No assignments submitted: registration fee, administrative fee, and any shipping charges only.
- Up to 10% completed: those fees plus 10% of refundable tuition.
- 10% to 25% completed: those fees plus 25% of refundable tuition.
- 25% to 50% completed: those fees plus 50% of refundable tuition.
- More than 50% completed: full program tuition and all applicable fees. No refund.4Penn Foster. Penn Foster Career School Refund Policy Example
Penn Foster College uses a nearly identical graduated scale, with one extra trigger: if you go past the length of your enrollment agreement, you owe full tuition no matter how many assignments you’ve completed.2Penn Foster. Penn Foster Refund Policy Contract length varies by program, so check your enrollment agreement for the specific date.
The 50% mark is the line that matters. Cross it and you’re on the hook for everything. If you’re close and thinking about canceling, do the math before you submit another assignment.
After You Cancel
Your official withdrawal date is the date you submitted the cancellation request.2Penn Foster. Penn Foster Refund Policy Any refund owed to you has to be processed within 30 days of that date.5Penn Foster. Penn Foster College – Enrollment Agreement If nothing has arrived and you have no confirmation by then, follow up with the Learner Success Center. Don’t assume the request went through just because you sent it.
If you were paying in installments on an automatic plan, cancellation of your enrollment does not automatically stop the charges. Contact your bank or credit card company and cancel the recurring authorization. If a payment posts after your withdrawal date, you’ll need the cancellation confirmation to dispute it, so keep that confirmation somewhere you can find it.
If Penn Foster Doesn’t Process Your Request
If you’ve submitted a cancellation and gotten no response, or you believe your refund was calculated wrong, follow up in writing (email or certified letter) and reference your original cancellation date and any confirmation numbers.
If that doesn’t resolve it, you can escalate to the Pennsylvania State Board of Private Licensed Schools, which oversees Penn Foster’s licensing. The Board accepts student complaints but requires you to show that you first went through the school’s internal complaint process and that the school couldn’t resolve the concern. Complaints go by email to RA-PLS@pa.gov, together with a copy of your enrollment agreement and documentation supporting your claim.6Pennsylvania Department of Education. Pennsylvania State Board of Private Licensed Schools Student Complaint Form
The certified mail receipt, a copy of the cancellation letter, and any email confirmations are what turn a complaint into one the Board can act on. Build that paper trail from the first step and the rest of the process gets easier.