Return of Financial Aid

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: