Withdrawals and Return of Federal Financial Aid

There are federal regulations pertaining to recipients of financial aid funds who withdraw from school. They require the school, and sometimes the student, to repay some or all of the financial aid that was received. When these regulations require a larger repayment of federal funding sources than the amount specified by the school's refund policy, the student will be responsible for the difference. In general, the law assumes that you "earn" your federal financial aid awards directly in proportion to the number of days of the term you attend. If you completely withdraw from school during a term, the college must calculate according to a specific formula the portion of the total scheduled financial assistance you have earned and are therefore entitled to receive up to the time you withdrew.

If you receive (or the college receives on your behalf) more assistance than you earn, the unearned excess funds must be returned to the Department of Education. If, on the other hand, you receive (or the college receives on your behalf) less assistance than the amount you have earned, you may be able to receive those additional funds. The portion of your federal grants and loans you are entitled to receive is calculated on a percentage basis by comparing the total number of days in the semester to the number of days you completed before you withdrew. For example, if you complete 30% of the semester, you earn 30% of the assistance you were originally scheduled to receive. This means that 70% of your scheduled awards remain unearned and must be returned to the Federal Government. Once you have completed more than 60% of the semester, you can be said to have earned all (100%) of your assistance. If you withdraw from the college (either officially or unofficially) before completing 60% of the semester, you may have to repay any unearned federal monies that were already disbursed to you.

Your withdrawal date may be determined by the college as:

• The date you notified the Office of the Registrar or

• The midpoint of the semester, if you withdraw without notifying the college

The Financial Aid Office will determine how much aid is to be repaid based on the documentation. You must repay the required amount during the term in which you withdraw. Students failing to repay the required amount will have a hold placed on their records and will not be eligible for federal financial aid.