Financial Aid Withdrawal Policy
Students who withdraw from the College may have their financial aid adjusted based on the percentage of the semester completed prior to withdrawing. This process, called Return to Title IV, determines the amount of Federal Title IV funds a student who withdraws has earned. For this process, Title IV Funds include the following: Federal Stafford Loans, Federal Perkins Loans, Parent PLUS Loans, Federal Pell Grant, Federal ACG Grant, Federal SMART Grant, Federal SEOG Grant, and Federal Teach Grant.
The Office of Financial Aid uses a form developed by the Department of Education to determine the amount of Title IV aid a student has earned by factoring in the percentage of the semester completed, institutional charges, and types of Title IV aid received. Any unearned portion of Title IV aid must be returned to the federal government by the College and/or student (if applicable) in the following order: Federal Unsubsidized Stafford Loans, Federal Subsidized Stafford Loans, Federal Perkins Loans, Federal PLUS Loans, Federal Pell Grant, Federal ACG Grant, Federal SMART Grant, Federal SEOG Grant, and Federal Teach Grant.
The Return to Title IV process listed above is separate from the Institutional Refund Policy regarding tuition, fee, room and meal charges. The specifics of this policy can be found in the College Catalog, or on-line at the Cashier’s Office website.
The percentage of a semester completed is determined by dividing the number of days a student was in attendance (calendar days) divided by the total number of days in the semester (calendar days), excluding scheduled breaks that are at least five days in length (i.e. fall and spring breaks). For example, if a student was in attendance for 39 days and there were 100 days in the semester, the student would have completed 39% of the semester (39 divided by 100).
According to the Federal Student Aid Handbook, institutional charges generally are defined as the charges for tuition, fees, room, meals and other educational expense that are paid to the school directly.
In some situations, the Return to Title IV processes may leave a student with a balance owed to the College. Once the Return to Title IV calculation is performed, the Office of Financial Aid will send written correspondence to the student informing them of the amount of aid earned and the amount of aid to be returned. If applicable, the Cashier’s Office will forward a letter to the student informing them if a balance is owed to the college. Students who withdraw after the 60% point in the semester will have earned 100% of Federal Title IV funds; however, a calculation may be performed to see if a student is eligible for a Post-withdrawal disbursement.
Students who complete a semester with a 0.00 GPA will be designated an unofficial withdrawal and a Return to Title IV calculation will be performed based upon 50% attendance for the semester. Students will be given an opportunity to dispute their designation as an unofficial withdrawal and will have two weeks from receipt of correspondence from the College regarding this status and must provide written documentation from applicable faculty to establish attendance for the full semester. If attendance cannot be determined, a Return to Title IV calculation will be performed and any applicable aid will be sent back to the Department of Education and a balance may be owed the College.
In order to officially withdraw from the College, students need to contact the Office of the Registrar to complete a Withdrawal Form. This form will be forwarded to all applicable departments (i.e. Office of Financial Aid, Cashier’s Office, and Housing Office) on campus, ensuring the withdraw is processed properly.
