- be_ixf; php_sdk; php_sdk_1.4.18
- 18 ms
- iy_2024; im_11; id_08; ih_01; imh_14; i_epoch:1.73105729312E+12
- ixf-compiler; ixf-compiler_1.0.0.0
- py_2024; pm_11; pd_07; ph_14; pmh_39; p_epoch:1.73101916538E+12
- link-block; link-block_link-block; bodystr
- pn_tstr:Thu Nov 07 14:39:25 PST 2024; pn_epoch:1.73101916538E+12
- 0 ms
- be_ixf; php_sdk; php_sdk_1.4.18
- https://sou.edu/financial-aid/checklist/eligibility/return-of-financial-aid/
- https://sou.edu/financial-aid/checklist/eligibility/return-of-financial-aid/
Return of Title IV (Federal) Funds
The Return of Title IV (R2T4) policy is below. If a student completely withdraws by officially withdrawing or they stop attending their courses, they will be subject to the policy below.
The following policy and procedures apply to Title IV recipients who officially or unofficially withdraw from all courses in a payment period/term. This policy is not applicable to students who drop some of their classes but remain enrolled in others. Federal Work-Study (FWS) funds are not included in any of the calculations for the return of funds. Calculations are rounded to the nearest dollar for all federal direct loans, federal grants and institutional aid sources. If a student does not fully withdraw but meets the following requirements, a Return of Title IV calculation must be performed. Student receives federal aid. Student is simultaneously enrolled in courses applicable and not applicable to a degree program then subsequently drops all courses applicable to aid. In this scenario, a Return of Title IV calculation is performed according to our policy.
Loan Eligibility
The following policy applies to Title IV recipients who officially or unofficially withdraw from all courses or drop classes in current or subsequent modules. Any student who initially enrolls as a half-time student as set forth by the Federal Student Aid Handbook established eligibility for a Federal Direct Loan. If the student is enrolled half-time at the time of the loan disbursement and attends one day of at least one class, the student maintains eligibility for their loan regardless of their enrollment status changes in a subsequent session. Pell Grant and Scholarship Eligibility Initial award amounts are based on a student’s enrollment status. Grant and/or scholarship awards are adjusted for a student who drops a class before the census date. Grant and/or scholarship awards are adjusted for a student who drops a modular class prior to the beginning of the module through the module’s census date.
Determining the Withdrawal Date
The withdrawal date for an official withdrawal is determined as the date the student began the withdrawal process unless the last date of attendance (LDA) is reported. An unofficial withdrawal occurs when a student does not begin the school’s withdrawal process or notify the school of intent to withdraw, but ceases attending all courses in a payment period/term, including Stopping Attending (NC or F) and Never Attended ( NC). In this case, the withdrawal date is the midpoint of the payment period/term for which Title IV funds were disbursed unless a more accurate date can be determined by the class instructor. If the student officially drops a class, the instructor can report that the student did not ever attend the class. If it is determined the student did not begin the withdrawal process or notify the school of the intent to withdraw due to illness, accident, grievous personal loss, or other such circumstances beyond the student’s control, an appropriate withdrawal date will be determined. A modular withdrawal occurs when a student registers for courses offered in modules and does not complete the entire enrollment period or drops a course and does not notify the Office of Student Financial Aid of his/her written confirmation to attend a future course. The date of determination is the date the student drops the course, or the last date of academic activity, whichever is earlier. Reference: Federal Student Aid Handbook Ch. 2, Volume 5, Withdrawals from Programs Offered in Modules
Determining the Percentage of the Period of Enrollment Completed
Once a withdrawal date is established, the percentage of the payment period/term the student completed is calculated in order to determine the portion of the period not completed. These percentages then determine the corresponding percentages of earned and unearned aid. The percentage completed is determined by dividing the total number of calendar days comprising the payment period/term for which assistance is awarded into the number of calendar days completed in that period as of the day the student withdrew. Breaks of 5 days or more are excluded from both the denominator and the numerator for the purposes of calculating the percentage of the period of enrollment completed. The Office of Student Financial Aid determines how many days the student attended. The date used to determine the number of days completed is the last class the student dropped or reported as having ceased attendance. The number of days completed is then divided by the total number of days in the payment period/term. In the case of modular withdrawals, the total days of scheduled attendance is included in the denominator and the completed days in the numerator. In some cases, however, the total number of days is not included in the denominator. For example, if a student is enrolled in Spring I and Spring II courses and drops the Spring II course while enrolled (and attending) the Spring I course, the Spring II dates are not included in the denominator. This is only true for situations that involve an actual drop. This is not the case with unofficial withdrawals from modules. If the same situation exists and applies to an unofficial withdrawal, all dates are included in the denominator. An unofficial drop occurs when a student does not formally drop the class but ceases to attend. The Office of Records and Registration requests that faculty report through BANNER/MOODLE the student’s last date of attendance. Once the last date of attendance is determined, the percentage is calculated using the above mentioned procedure.
Written Confirmation of Future Attendance in a Payment Period/Term
For a payment period/term in which courses in the program are offered in modules, a student is not considered withdrawn if the institution obtains written confirmation from the student at the time that would have been a withdrawal. The written confirmation must include which module the student will attend that begins later in the same period. A student may change the date of return to a module that begins later in the same payment period/term, provided that the student does so in writing prior to the return date that he or she had previously confirmed. If written confirmation of future attendance is obtained but the student does not return as scheduled, the student is considered withdrawn from the period. In this scenario, the student’s withdrawal date and the total number of calendar days in the payment period/term is the withdrawal date and the total number of calendar days that would have been applied if the student had not provided written confirmation of a future date of attendance. In the event a student withdraws from courses, the institution notifies the student via email and includes information related to written confirmation. If a student withdraws from a program offered in modules during a payment period/term and reenters the same program, at the same enrollment status and prior to the end of the period, the student is eligible to receive Title IV funds for which he or she was eligible for prior to withdrawal. Reference: 34 CFR 668.22(a)(2)(ii) and (iii)
Calculation of Title IV Funds Earned
If the percentage of the payment period/term is less than or equal to 60%, this percentage becomes the percentage of earned aid. If the percentage of the payment period/term is greater than 60% (60% or greater is rounded to the third decimal point to be 60%), then 100% is used for the percentage of earned aid. The earned percentage is multiplied by the total amount of Title IV grant and loan funds that was disbursed (could have been disbursed) to the student for the payment period/term for which it was awarded as of the determined withdrawal date. Loans not originated and disbursed at the time of the withdrawal date can be considered as “aid that could have been disbursed” if the student has signed a promissory note. In accordance with late disbursement rules, the amount that “could have been disbursed” is any awarded aid for which the student qualified as of the withdrawal date, but that had not yet been disbursed. The school has 180 days from the date of withdrawal determination to make a post-withdrawal disbursement of earned aid. The school may credit the student’s account for tuition, fees, food, and housing without the permission of the student or parent.
Calculation of Title IV Funds Unearned
If the student has earned more than 60%, no return of funds is necessary. If the percentage earned is 60% or less, then that amount is subtracted from 100%, and the result is the unearned percentage. School: The school must return the lesser of: 1) the unearned amount of Title IV aid; or 2) the amount equal to the student’s total institutional charges for the period, multiplied by the unearned percentage. The school has 45 days from the date of determination of withdrawal to return unearned Title IV funds. Student: The student must return the unearned amount of Title IV aid minus any funds the school returned. Grant funds to be repaid are limited to the amount by which the original overpayment amount exceeds half of the total grant funds received by the student. A student, or parent for a PLUS loan, is required to repay the calculated amount attributable to a Title IV loan program according to the terms of the Master Promissory Note (MPN). Essentially, this means that when a repayment amount, due to a withdrawal, is calculated and attributed to a student’s Title IV loan, the student is not responsible for immediately returning that amount. That amount is repaid when the loan enters repayment status in accordance with the terms of the MPN.
Order of Required Returns by the Institution
The Department of Education requires that unearned funds be returned in a manner that is in the best interest of the student.
Based upon federal guidelines, unearned Title IV funds are returned in the following order:
- Unsubsidized Direct Loan
- Subsidized Direct Loan
- Direct PLUS Loans
- Federal Pell Grant
- Federal SEOG
- Federal TEACH Grant
- Iraq Afghanistan Service Grant
Reference: Federal Student Aid Handbook, Volume 5, Chapter 2
Return of Institutional Aid and Scholarships
Institutional Aid in forms of merit scholarships, Diversity scholarship, Athletic scholarships, SOU need based aid and other forms of SOU specific scholarships are subject to a return calculation similar to the Title IV return of funds.These funds can include the following:
This policy does not apply to scholarships that are awarded by the SOU Foundation.
Based off of the withdraw date confirmed by either the last date of attendance ( LDA) or off of the last class dropped and recorded on the withdraw survey, aid will be prorated based on this date. Students will have “ earned” all SOU institutional aid at the 60% mark of the term. Any date prior to the 60% mark will be reviewed for percentage of earned vs unearned. Withdrawals that happen prior to the census date ( as indicated on the SOU Academic Calendar) will result in a complete reversal of the Raider aid.
Students could potentially owe back institutional funds based off of the LDA date. These funds will be charged against the student account and will produce a charge to the student. If you are receiving any type of financial aid, contact the financial aid office to discuss the questions about the impact this withdrawal will have on your financial aid obligations.
Important: Federal regulations and University policy may require that you repay a portion of the funds you received. Your financial aid will be prorated according to your date of withdrawal and funds credited to your student account will be adjusted. This adjustment may create an outstanding balance on your student account that you will be required to pay.
If any refund remains after crediting these accounts, the balance will be refunded to you. Please be aware that if you withdraw from all classes within the first 60% of the term, you may owe immediate repayment of a portion of the aid you received
Post-Withdrawal Disbursements
When processing a return calculation, include any loan disbursements, which are guaranteed but not disbursed as “Could Have Been Disbursed”, whether or not the student is eligible to receive it as a post-withdrawal disbursement. These funds should only be included as “Could Have Been Disbursed” if the student signed their master promissory note. The post-withdrawal disbursement must be made within 180 days of the school’s determination that the student withdrew. The school is allowed to credit any Title IV grant funds to the student’s account for outstanding current payment period/term charges without the student’s permission. If loan funds can be used to credit the student’s account, the school is required to notify the student (or parent in cases of PLUS loans) within 30 days to allow the opportunity to cancel all or part of the loan. A school must always return any unearned Title IV funds it is responsible for returning within 45 days of the date the school determined the student withdrew.
Verification
Unless a student subject to verification has provided all required verification documents in time for the school to meet the R2T4 deadlines, the school includes as aid disbursed or aid that could have been disbursed in the R2T4 calculation only those Title IV funds not subject to verification. If a student who failed to provide all required verification documents in time for the school to meet the R2T4 deadline later provides those documents prior to the applicable verification deadline, the school must perform a new R2T4 calculation based on all of the aid the student qualified for based on the completed verification documents and make the appropriate adjustments. Regardless of the amount owed on the student account, the school must have student or parent written authorization to credit the student’s account with any Title IV loan funds. If a student does not owe outstanding current payment period/term charges, any post-withdrawal disbursement is offered to the student or parent. A notification of the offer is sent via letter within 30 days of the school’s determination that the student withdrew. The letter must identify the type and amount of the funds. If loan funds are available, the school must explain that the student or parent has the option to accept/decline all or part of the loan. The letter must also inform the student or parent that a response must be received within 14 days of the date of notice. If the school does not receive a response, no further disbursement is made. If the response is received in a timely manner, the funds must be disbursed within 180 days. Exceptions can be made at the discretion of the Director of Student Financial Aid for responses received after 14 days. If the request is denied due to a late response, the school sends the student or parent a letter.
Reference: Federal Student Aid Handbook, Volume 5
Before withdrawing please contact the Financial Aid Office at 541.552.6600 to find out if there are any implications on your Financial Aid. Please be aware that withdrawing can also affect your Satisfactory Academic Progress (SAP).
Financial Aid Resources
Contact Raider Student Services
Raider Student Services
1250 Siskiyou Blvd.
Ashland, OR 97520
Phone: 541.552.6600
Fax: 541.552.6614
Financial Aid & Scholarships: finaid@sou.edu
Registrar (Registration & Records): registrar@sou.edu
Bursar (Student Financial Accounts): studentaccounts@sou.edu
Hours: Monday through Friday from 9 am to 4 pm