Return of Federal Student Aid - Title IV Refund

Refund Policy

The college’s policy regarding refunds for students who withdraw before the end of a semester is provided in the Catalog .

Financial Aid Withdrawal and Refund Policy

Students who receive financial aid and who withdraw before the end of a semester may have a part of their aid refunded to the programs that assisted them The amount to be refunded is prescribed in Section 484B of the Higher Education Act of 1965, as amended.

Determination of Withdrawal Date

The date the student began the withdrawal process by contacting the Dean of Students Office (for medical withdrawals) or the Academic Advising Resource Center - AARC (for all other withdrawals) orally or in writing is considered the date of withdrawal for College refunds and for the return of Federal Title IV funds.  When a student continues to attend classes or other academically related activity after beginning the withdrawal process, the College may choose to use the student's last date of documented attendance at an academically related activity as the date of withdrawal.  For a student who leaves the College without notifying the College of the intent to withdraw, the College normally uses the student's last date of documented attendance at an academically related activity as the date of withdrawal.  If that date cannot be determined, the College will consider the midpoint of the enrollment period to be the date the student withdrew.

The amount of federal grant or loan assistance to be returned is calculated on the basis of the amount of aid the student has “earned.” This amount is calculated by: (a) determining the percentage of the semester that was completed as of the date of withdrawal if the percentage is no more than 60 percent, otherwise 100 percent of aid is deemed to be “earned;” and (b) multiplying the percentage determined in (a) by the amount of federal grant and loan assistance that was disbursed or could have been disbursed to the student or on the student’s behalf for the semester, as of the student’s date of withdrawal.

If the student received grant or loan assistance equal to the amount “earned,” no federal funds must be returned.

If the student received less grant or loan assistance than the amount “earned,” the College must follow federal regulations for “late disbursement” of grant and/or loan funds.

If the student has received more grant or loan assistance than the amount “earned,” as calculated in (b), the excess must be returned by the College or the student to the federal grant and loan programs in the following sequence:

• Unsubsidized Federal Direct Stafford Loans
• Federal Direct Stafford Loans (subsidized)
• Federal Perkins Loans
• Federal Direct PLUS loans
• Federal Pell Grants
• Federal Supplemental Educational Opportunity Grants
• Other Higher Education Act, Title IV, programs (excluding Federal Work-Study)

The College is responsible for returning the lesser of (1) the amount of federal grant and loan assistance awarded that has not been “earned” by the student, or (2) an amount equal to institutional charges incurred by the student for the semester multiplied by the “unearned” percentage of grant and loan assistance (that is, 100 percent minus the “earned” percentage determined above).

The student is responsible for returning federal grant and loan assistance not earned by the student minus the amount the College is responsible for returning, as calculated in the preceding paragraph. The student (or the parent, in the instance of Federal PLUS loans) must repay federal loans under the terms of the loan program and must return grant funds subject to repayment arrangements satisfactory to the College or the overpayment collection procedures prescribed by the U.S. Department of Education.

Deadlines for Returning Title IV Funds

The amount of unearned federal funds allocated to the Federal Loan Program(s), Federal PLUS Program, Federal Pell Grant, Federal SEOG Program, and Federal Perkins Loan Program will be returned by the College to the appropriate federal program account(s) within 45 days of the date the student officially withdrew or was dismissed, or within 45 days of the date the College determined that the student had unofficially withdrawn.

The amount of the earned federal funds, if any, allocated to the student will be paid within 45 days of the student's withdrawal date or, if the student withdrew unofficially, the date that the Dean of Students/AARC Office determined that the student withdrew.