Please be advised that financial aid is “earned” through attendance in classes. It is the college’s expectation that a student will complete the semester with satisfactory grades in order to earn the full award granted. Therefore, withdrawal from classes may affect your financial aid eligibility. If you switch a class to audit, drop all of your classes, unofficially withdraw, or fail all of your classes, you may owe back financial aid money and receive a bill.
- A student who withdraws from all classes during a semester may be responsible for charges incurred at the College, as well as the repayment of any excess financial aid that they had received and did not “earn” through attendance (subject to the Return of Title IV Funds Calculation below).
- Financial aid does NOT cover the cost of any course or associated charges (such as fees and books/supplies) for which a student registers and is never academically engaged/ never attends.
- Financial aid does NOT cover the costs of auditing a course (AU).
STUDENT WITHDRAWAL AND THE FEDERAL TITLE IV FUNDS RETURN POLICY
Federal regulations require a return of Title IV financial aid if you withdraw or cease attending all classes and have done the following:
- received federal assistance in the form of a Federal Pell Grant; Supplemental Educational Opportunity Grant (SEOG); Federal Direct Loan (subsidized or unsubsidized); PLUS (parent loan); and
- withdrew or ceased attending all classes on or before completing 60 percent of the semester. The Federal government mandates that you may only keep the financial aid you have earned up to the time you withdraw from all classes.
To determine the amount of federal aid earned up to the time of withdrawal, the College will divide the number of calendar days you attended classes by the total number of calendar days in the semester (less any scheduled break of five days or more). The resulting percentage is then multiplied by the total federal funds that you accepted. This calculation determines the amount of aid that you earned and are allowed to keep.
The unearned portion of your aid must be returned to the federal Title IV program from which the aid was received by the College and/or by you. A notification letter will be sent to you if your financial aid is reduced and a return is required. If you are required to return any Title IV loan funds, you will be contacted by Direct Loans with repayment information. If the College is required to return any Title IV funds, the change will be reflected on your student account.
Financial aid returned by you and/or your parent or the College must be allocated in the following order:
- Federal Direct Unsubsidized Loan
- Federal Direct Subsidized Loan
- Federal Direct PLUS Parent Loan
- Federal Pell Grant
- Federal Supplemental Educational Opportunity Grant (FSEOG)
