If a student completely withdraws from all credits before the 60 percent point of the semester, his/her financial aid is subject to the “Federal Return to Title IV” refund policy. Under this policy, students earn financial aid in proportion to the time they are enrolled up to the 60 percent point. The unearned share of the federal financial aid must be returned to the program from which it was paid as prescribed by federal regulations in the following order:
- Federal Unsubsidized Direct Loan
- Federal Subsidized Direct Loan
- PLUS Loan
- Additional Pell Grant
- Federal Pell Grant
- Federal SEOG
- TEACH
For example, if a student withdraws after completing 30% of the term, s/he is entitled to keep approximately 30% of his/her financial aid and must repay the remaining 70%.
After the 60 percent point of the semester, the student is considered to have earned all of the financial aid eligibility and no refund is required for withdrawal.
Official Withdrawal
When the student officially withdraws from all courses after the semester begins, the Financial Aid Office will use the withdrawal date to determine the portion of the Federal Title IV aid earned (or could have been earned) to be used to pay institutional charges (such as tuition and fees).
Unofficial Withdrawal
A student is said to be unofficially withdrawn if they stop attending and receive failing grades in all credits. For a student who has been determined to have unofficially withdrawn, the date of withdrawal for purposes of the Return of Title IV refund calculation is deemed to be the last date of attendance recorded by the faculty at grading.
Timeframe for R2T4 calculation
Federal regulation requires the university to calculate the Return to Title IV refunds within 45 days of determining an official or unofficial withdrawal date.
Post Withdrawal Disbursement
In some cases, a student may withdraw from all courses before aid has disbursed. A post withdrawal disbursement is done when a student shows they have withdrawn from all of their classes prior to financial aid disbursement but began attendance in all courses and are qualified for some (earned) aid.
For Pell grant eligibility only, the earned portion of the grant is disbursed to the student account and a letter is sent to student to notify them of their eligibility and right to return funds within 45 days on the date letter was issued.
For loan eligibility, a notice is sent to the student before any funding will be processed. The student must tell the university if they want funds disbursed to them directly or to their student account. Post Withdrawal disbursements of Federal Direct Loans will be made within 180 days after the determination of the withdrawal.