Returning Aid
If you have been awarded Title IV (federal) or state aid and you withdraw before completing 60% of the semester, some portion of your financial aid must be returned. The above formula determines what portion of the aid must be returned and the list below indicates the order in which the aid is returned.
Refunds to Federal Title IV programs are made in this order:
- Federal Unsubsidized Stafford Loan
- Federal Subsidized Stafford Loan
- Federal Perkins Loan
- Federal Graduate PLUS Loan
- Federal Parent Loan for Undergraduate Students PLUS
- Federal Pell Grant
- Federal Supplemental Educational Opportunity Grant (SEOG)
- Other federal sources of aid
- Other state, private, or institutional aid
- The student
Refund examples are available in the Office of Student Financial Assistance. It is important to discuss withdrawal and refund as it pertains to the individual student, and its implications for federal student loan repayment and future eligibility for financial assistance.
Classes Offered in Modules
Students registered in classes offered in modules are course(s) that do not span the entire payment period (semester). An example of a module course(s) is two eight-week classes within a 16-week semester.
A student would not be considered withdrawn and no Return to Title IV calculation would be processed:
- If a student provides written confirmation that they will return for another module in the same semester, they are not considered withdrawn and no Return to Title IV calculation will need to be performed.
- If a student does not provide written confirmation that they will return for another module in the same semester and does return, the Return to Title IV calculation will be reversed and the student will regain their prior eligibility.
- If a student drops a future module and is attending a current module course at the time of the drop, a Return to Title IV Calculation will not be performed. However, if the student’s enrollment status has changed, it may result in financial aid being adjusted.
Below are examples as to when a Return to Title IV calculation would be processed:
- Students are considered to be withdrawn if they don’t complete all the days they were scheduled to complete within a semester or module for which their aid was intended.
- If a student intends to return for another module in the same semester and does not return, the student is considered to have withdrawn based on the last day of attendance.