RETURN OF FUNDS DUE TO WITHDRAWAL

A student who receives financial aid and withdraws from the University may be required to repay all or part of the aid awarded. An application for withdrawal from the University must be initiated in the University Registrar’s Office. As part of this withdrawal process, students are required to secure approval from the Financial Aid Office.

As required by federal regulations, the Financial Aid Office must determine the amount of Title IV aid that a student earned if they withdraw completely. The Title IV programs that are covered by this law are: Federal Pell Grants, Academic Competetiveness Grants (ACG), National SMART Grants, Federal Supplemental Educational Opportunity Grants (FSEOG), Stafford Loans and PLUS Loans. Calculation of repayment is made at the time of withdrawal by determining the amount of aid the student was awarded, the amount of awarded aid the student earned, and ultimately the amount of awarded aid the student did not earn that must be returned to the aid program(s). The amount of assistance that a student earns is determined on a prorata basis. For example, if a student completes 30% of the payment period then they have earned 30% of the assistance they were originally scheduled to receive. A student is considered to have earned 100% of their aid once they complete 60% of the payment period. The following steps are used to calculate the amount that must be returned to the aid programs(s):

1. Determination of the withdrawal date.
2. Determination of the amount of aid the student earned. This is done by multiplying the % of the period of enrollment that has been completed x the aid that was disbursed and/or could have been disbursed as of the date of withdrawal.
3. Determination of the amount of aid the student did not earn. This is done by subtracting the "earned amount" from the aid disbursed as of the date of withdrawal.
4. Determination of the amount of aid the University must return. This is the amount that is equal to the total institutional charges for the payment period x the % of the aid that was unearned.
5. Determination of the amount of aid the student must return. This is the amount that is equal to the aid received by the student for non-institutional expenses x the % of the aid that was unearned.

If a student did not receive all of the funds that they earned, they may be due a post-withdrawal disbursement. If the calculation determines that a student is due a post-withdrawal disbursement, the school must obtain the student's permission to disburse any loan funds. Furthermore, the school may keep all or a portion of grant funds to pay for any tuition, fees and room and board charges that are due.

If a student receives excess Title IV funds, both the school and the student are responsible for returning unearned funds. Special rules that apply to the return of the unearned aid include:

1. The University must return the amount of unearned aid that is equal to the total institutional charges for the payment period x the % of the aid that was unearned. In order to satisfy the amount the University must return to the aid programs, a combination of the following resources may be used - aid not yet disbursed to the student, the student's refund as determined by the official refund schedule as posted by the Business Office and an additional amount to be repaid by the student.
2. The student must return the balance of the unearned aid less the amount the University returned. The student's share of loans to be returned may be repaid in accordance with the terms of the loan. Any amount of unearned grant funds that must be returned are called an overpayment. The maximum amount of a grant overpayment that a student must repay is half of the grant funds that they received or were scheduled to receive.Student must make arrangements with the school or the Department of Education to repay unearned grant funds. Students have 45 days from the date of notification by the school to repay unearned funds.
3. Excess funds must be returned in the following order: Unsubsidized Federal Stafford Loans; Subsidized Federal Stafford Loans; Federal PLUS Loans; Federal Pell Grants; Academic Competitivess Grants; national SMART Grants; Federal SEOGs.