Withdrawal & Return of Funds

The Financial Aid Office is required by federal statute to recalculate federal financial aid eligibility for students who withdraw, drop out, are dismissed, or take a leave of absence prior to completing 60% of a semester. The federal Title IV financial aid programs must be recalculated in these situations. Title IV funds are Pell, SEOG, Perkins Loan, Stafford Subsidized, Stafford Unsubsidized, and PLUS loans.

Leave of Absence
If a student who has received Title IV loans (Perkins, PLUS, and Stafford Subsidized or Unsubsidized Loans) does not return from an approved leave of absence, some or all of the repayment deferral period may be exhausted, and loans may go into repayment. For purposes of the Title IV programs, the date of withdrawal is backdated to the first day of the approved leave of absence. This policy also includes students who do not return from an approved leave for study abroad.

Withdrawal
If a student leaves the University prior to completing 60% of a semester, the financial aid office recalculates eligibility for Title IV funds. Recalculation is based on the percent of earned aid using the following Federal Return of Title IV funds formula:

Percent of aid earned = the number of days completed up to the withdrawal date, divided by the total days in the semester. (Any break of five days or more is not counted as part of the days in the semester.)

Funds are returned to the appropriate federal program based on the percent of unearned aid using the following formula:

Aid to be returned = (100% minus the percent earned) multiplied by the amount of aid disbursed toward institutional charges.

The University is required to return a portion of the funds and the student is required to return a portion of the funds. Keep in mind that when Title IV funds are returned, the student borrower may owe a debit balance to the University. It that is the case, the student should contact the Student Accounts Office to make arrangements to pay the outstanding balance.

Return of Funds Calculations
Examples refund calculations may obtain from the Financial Aid Office. Please note that charges used in these examples may not reflect true University charges. In accordance with federal regulations, you may be required to repay a portion of federal or state financial aid received or credited to your account if you withdraw prior to the end of the semester. In all cases, refunds will be credited back to the financial aid programs in the following order: 

1. Federal Stafford Loan 
2. Federal Perkins Loan 
3. Federal PLUS Loan 
4. Federal Pell Grant Federal SEOG 
5. Academic Competitiveness Grant
6. National SMART Grant
7. Federal SEOG
8. Other Title IV assistance
9. State Programs 
10. Private / Institutional Programs 
11. Student