If a student withdraws or takes a leave of absence after the semester begins, the University may be required to return a student’s federal financial aid back to the government. The Office of the Registrar oversees the withdrawal process for all students and any withdrawal from Á½ÐÔÉ«ÎçÒ¹ should be reported to the Registrar’s Office. The Registrar can be informed of a student’s request to withdraw, verbally or in writing; please refer to the Registrar’s Office for the Withdrawal/Leave of Absence Form.
If the date of withdrawal notice is received by the Registrar’s Office prior to the University’s census date, the date of withdrawal for financial aid purposes is the date of the last academically related activity. If the date of withdrawal notice is received by the Registrar’s Office after census date, the date of withdrawal for financial aid purposes is the date of receipt recorded by the Registrar’s Office.
Students who withdraw from the University may apply for re-enrollment through the Registrar’s Office. Students who do not return within a year must meet the Catalog requirements for graduation in effect at the time of re-enrollment.
Federal law requires that a Return of Title IV Fund calculation be performed for any student who attended at least one class and withdrew. This means that financial aid eligibility will be calculated based on an earned versus unearned calculation. The calculation determines how much aid a student is eligible to keep based on the amount of time enrolled. Students who attend more than 60% of the semester will be eligible to keep their entire financial aid award.
The federal government has defined two types of withdrawal — an official withdrawal and an unofficial withdrawal. An official withdrawal is one in which the student notifies the Registrar of the desire to withdraw from Á½ÐÔÉ«ÎçÒ¹. An unofficial withdrawal is one in which a student leaves without notifying the Registrar’s Office. Students who do not officially withdraw and pass no units (receive grades of F or UF) in a semester or summer session are presumed to have unofficially withdrawn, unless the student provides the Office of Financial Aid with documentation showing attendance through the end of the semester. Such documentation must be presented within 30 days of the end of the semester being evaluated. The return of aid for an unofficial withdrawal is calculated at the 50% point of the semester or summer session.
After the return of federal aid is calculated and sent back to the U.S. Department of Education, students may owe a balance to the University in some cases. It is the responsibility of the student to make a payment arrangement with the Á½ÐÔÉ«ÎçÒ¹ Services Office to pay any balance.
The order in which aid is returned is as follows:
- Unsubsidized Stafford
- Subsidized Stafford
- PLUS Loan
- Pell Grant
- Federal Supplemental Educational Opportunity Grant (FSEOG)
- Other Title IV Assistance
Student loan borrowers are responsible for loan funds that did not get returned to the federal government as a part of the Return of Title IV Funds; repayment begins according to the terms and conditions of the promissory note.