Return of Title IV Funds - Financial Aid

Refund Policy for Federal Aid Recipients Who Completely Withdraw

Students who wish to withdraw from their courses must officially withdraw by submitting the withdraw form.

During the add/drop period, a student can drop their courses online via Self-Service, by fax, or in person at the Enrollment Services Office.

After the add/drop period, students may withdraw by completing and submitting the electronic withdraw form.

After the third week of the semester, there will be no tuition refund. For complete tuition refund information see our tuition refund policy.

A student who completely withdraws at or before 60 percent of the term may have to return a portion of his or her unearned federal financial aid and may owe tuition, fees and a repayment of federal funds. Students earn their federal financial aid based on the percentage of the term that they have completed.

A Return of Title IV Funds calculation is performed when a student completely withdraws from all classes during a term. This calculation determines the percentage of financial aid the student has earned based on the number of calendar days the student attended divided by the number of days in the enrollment period. For example, if a student completed 30 percent of the payment period, they earn 30 percent of the federal funds that they were originally scheduled to receive.

In order to determine the amount of the semester a student completed, the Return of Title IV Funds calculation will use the student’s last date of attendance. For students who officially withdraw, the date of withdraw will be considered the student’s last date of attendance for calculation purposes. For students who do not officially withdraw, it is assumed that the student attended 50 percent of the enrollment period. Students who do not earn any passing grades and have a combination of FS, FN, and/or W grades are considered to be unofficial withdraws and their federal aid eligibility will be recalculated as described in this policy.

The school must return funds in order up to the total net amount from each source in the following order: Unsubsidized Federal Stafford Loan, Subsidized Federal Stafford Loan, PLUS Loan, Pell Grant, Iraq and Afghanistan Service Grant (IASG), Federal SEOG and any other Title IV programs no later than 45 days after the date the school determined the student withdrew.

The student or parent (in cases of a PLUS loan) must return funds by repaying funds to the following sources, in order, up to the total net amount disbursed from each source: Unsubsidized Federal Stafford Loan, Subsidized Federal Stafford Loan, PLUS Loan, 50 percent of Pell Grant, 50 percent of Federal SEOG and 50 percent of any other federal grant program.

The school will return the lesser amount of the aid to be returned as compared to the institutional charges multiplied by the percentage of unearned aid. The student will also be responsible for returning a percentage of unearned financial aid. This amount will be the difference between the amount of Title IV aid due from the school and the amount of Title IV aid to be returned. Any federal grant funds that a student is required to repay will be returned to the Department of Education by the institution on the student’s behalf. The student will return any unearned loan amounts in accordance with the terms of the promissory note.

The student will be responsible to pay any unpaid institutional charges incurred by the institution having to return Title IV funds.

If the student did not receive all of the funds earned, they may be a due a post-withdraw disbursement. If the post-withdraw disbursement includes loan funds, the institution must get the student’s permission before the funds can be disbursed. The student may choose to decline all or part of the loan funds so they do not incur additional debt. Students who wish to have loan funds credited to their account will need to make the request in writing to the Financial Aid Office within 14 calendar days of receiving their notification letter.

There are some Title IV funds that a student may have been scheduled to receive that cannot be disbursed to a student once they have completely withdrawn because of other eligibility requirements. For example, if a student is a first-time, first year undergraduate student and has not completed the first 30 days of their program before they withdraw, they will not receive any Federal Stafford Loan funds that they would have received if they had remained enrolled past the 30th day.

Once the institution has determined that a student has completely withdrawn, a Return of Title IV funds calculation will be performed within 45 days. The institution will notify the student in writing of their revised eligibility after the Return of Title IV funds calculation is completed. If the student owes unpaid tuition and fees, the student will receive an updated invoice from the institution.

Withdraw from modules

If you withdraw from current classes, but are registered in a later-starting class for the semester, we are required to calculate the amount of unearned aid to return to federal programs, unless, you indicate in writing or by completing our secure online form, that you will attend the future courses.

Effective July 1, 2021, a return of funds calculation is not required if you successfully complete (earn passing grades) in the following instances:

1. You met all requirements for graduation from your program before completing the days in the period that the you were scheduled to complete; OR
2. You completed one module that includes 49 percent or more of the number of days in the overall payment period; OR
3. You completed a combination of modules that when combined contain 49 percent or more of the numbers of days in the payment period; OR
4. You completed coursework equal to or greater than the coursework required for the institution's definition of a half-time student.

Note: Important information regarding enrollment in only short-length classes

If you’re a student enrolled only in the 1^st and 2^nd  6/7-week sessions for a semester, be aware of the following example:

Example: You enrolled in one 7-week session I and one 7-week session II. You completed the 7-week session I. A Return to Title IV calculation is required to be run if you:

1. Never return to take the 7-week session II, or drop/withdraw from the 7-week session II after the completion of the 7 week session I, or the college cancels the 7-week session II and you choose to not enroll in a replacement course

This means that you may lose 50 percent of the financial aid you received for the course you completed in the 7-week session I.