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
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A student would not be considered withdrawn and a Return to Title IV calculation would not be processed:
- If a student provides written confirmation that he or she will return for another module in the same semester.
- If a student does not provide written confirmation that he or she 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 prior eligibility.
- If a student drops a future module and is attending a current module course at the time of the drop. However, if the student's enrollment status has changed, it may result in financial aid being adjusted.
A student would be considered withdrawn and a Return to Title IV calculation would be processed:
- If the student does not complete all the days he or she was 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intends to return for another module in the same semester and does not return, the student is considered to have withdrawn based on the last day of attendance.