Return of Title IV (R2T4) Policy

Students who are awarded financial aid funds must attend classes to receive these funds. Students are strongly encouraged to contact the Financial Aid Office prior to withdrawing to discuss the financial impact of that decision. Students receiving Federal Student Aid funds who officially withdraw or stop attending (all currently in progress) classes are subject to a Return of Title IV calculation to determine the percentage of financial aid funds that have been earned for that semester. If a student does not begin attendance in a class, all financial aid funds for that class are canceled. Students dropping within 100% tuition refund period will no longer be calculated or receive Post Withdraw Disbursements.

It is important for students to understand that if a student does not attend or withdraws from a class, a student can lose financial aid which has already been disbursed and may lead to an overpayment or outstanding tuition charges for the semester. Students cannot receive financial aid funds for classes never attended, classes not required for current degree program, or classes repeated with a grade more than two times.

How Withdrawing Affects Financial Aid

If you withdraw, drop out, or are dismissed before completing 60% of the term, the Financial Aid Office must recalculate your Title IV aid based on the percentage of the term you completed.

You may have to repay unearned aid, which could result in an outstanding balance. Contact the Financial Aid Office before withdrawing to discuss your options.

Return of Title IV calculation

Your earned federal financial aid is based on the percentage of the term completed before your withdrawal date. If you complete less than 60% of the term, unearned aid may be returned and you may owe a balance.

The Financial Aid Office is required by federal regulations to recalculate and adjust federal financial aid eligibility for students who withdraw, drop out, or are dismissed prior to completing 60% of a payment period or term. If a student leaves the institution prior to completing 60% of a payment period or term, the financial aid office recalculates eligibility for Title IV funds. Recalculation is based on the percentage of earned aid using the following Federal Return of Title IV funds formula: Percentage of payment period or term completed = the number of days completed up to the withdrawal date divided by the total days in the payment period or term. (Any break of five days or more is not counted as part of the days in the term.) This percentage is also the percentage of aid earned. Funds are returned to the appropriate federal program based on the percentage of unearned aid using the following formula: Aid to be returned = (100% of the aid that could be disbursed minus the percentage of earned aid) multiplied by the total amount of aid that could have been disbursed during the payment period or term.

If a student earned less aid than was disbursed, the institution is required to return a portion of the funds and the student would be 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 institution. For aid that has been awarded, but not yet disbursed, a Return of Title IV calculation will be made to determine if a Post Withdraw Disbursement is necessary. If so, only the disbursement of the earned amount of aid at the time of withdraw will be made. For grants, these will be automatically disbursed to the student. For PLUS, unsubsidized, and subsidized loans, an email will be sent to the borrower within 30 days to confirm authorization of the disbursement of loan funds. If no response is received within the allotted timeframe, no post withdraw disbursement of loan funds will be made. The institution must return the amount of Title IV funds for which it is responsible no later than 45 days after the date of the determination of the date of the student’s withdrawal. Students are encouraged to contact the Financial Aid Office prior to withdrawing from courses to discuss the possible impacts to their eligibility.