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The Federal Government has established a Return of Title IV Funds policy that specifies the amount of Title IV funds that a student earns if they withdraw from school. The Title IV funds that are covered by this policy are Federal Direct Loans, Direct PLUS Loans, Pell Grants, and Supplemental Education Opportunity Grants (SEOG).
Financial aid is awarded to students contingent upon actively participating in their classes and successfully completing the semester. If the student fails to do this, they may be responsible for repaying part or all of their financial aid based on their official or unofficial withdrawal date.
EICC will return the prorated amount of Title IV funds to the appropriate federal programs for students who withdraw before completing 60% of their scheduled classes for the semester, according to CFR Section 668.22.
Official and Unofficial Withdrawals
A student is considered to have withdrawn if they do not complete all of the days they were scheduled to complete within the semester. The determination of a withdrawal depends upon the original dates they enrolled in for the semester.
There are two types of withdrawals: official withdrawals or unofficial withdrawals.
Official Withdrawal
A student is considered to have officially withdrawn when they follow the college’s defined process to withdraw from classes. A complete withdrawal is defined as dropping all classes for a given semester. A student’s official withdrawal date is defined as:
- The date the student signs and turns into the registration office a drop card OR
- The date the registration office receives a written letter, fax, or email from the student requesting to be withdrawn from all classes OR
- The date a student phones the registration office requesting to be withdrawn from all classes OR
- The date the student withdraws from all classes on Self-Service
A student’s official withdrawal date is defined as the day that they began the process to withdraw from classes.
Unofficial Withdrawal
A student is considered to have unofficially withdrawn when:
- The student does not complete the official withdrawal process AND
- All of the student’s instructors report that the student is no longer attending classes.
A student’s unofficial withdrawal date is defined as: The midpoint (50%) of the days the student was scheduled to attend, unless the Financial Aid Office is able to document attendance beyond the midpoint. The time frame for midpoint may differ for students because it is based on the days they were scheduled to attend.
An unofficial withdrawal will result in all F’s being recorded on your academic transcript.
Exemptions to the Return of Title IV Funds
A student is not subject to returns of their Title IV funds if they meet one of the following exemptions:
- They complete all of the requirements for graduation for their program of study;
- They successfully complete a class or multiple classes that comprise at least 49% of the days in the semester; or
- They successfully complete a class or multiple classes that comprise at least half-time enrollment for a program.
Consequences for Withdrawal and Financial Aid
A student who officially withdraws earns aid based on the number of calendar days they attended. Earned aid is calculated from the date that the student began attending classes until the official withdrawal date. (Scheduled breaks that are at least five days long are excluded from determining the percentage of the semester completed.) After the student has completed 60% of the days they were scheduled to attend, all aid is considered earned.
The Return of Title IV Funds calculation will be performed according to federal regulations by taking the “Nth” calendar day of the semester that the student officially withdraws divided by the total number of calendar days the student was scheduled to attend during in the semester (excluding breaks of 5 days or longer).
The time frame for the 60% point of the semester may differ for students because it is based on the days they were scheduled to attend.
For unofficial withdrawals the Return of Title IV Funds calculation will be performed according to federal regulations by using the mid-point (50% point) of the days the student was scheduled to attend unless the Financial Aid Office is able to document attendance beyond the midpoint of the semester (excluding breaks of 5 days or longer).
Procedure for Repaying the US Government
If it is determined through the Return of Title IV Funds calculation that the student owes a repayment of grant funds to the Department of Education, they will remain ineligible for federal and state aid until EICC receives notification from the Department that the student has resolved their repayment.
In addition, if the student owes a balance on their account at EICC due to this calculation, they must pay their balance due before future registration. The student must contact the Business Office within 45 days of receiving written notification of their repayment obligation. If they do not contact the Business Office, they could be turned over to the Department of Education for collection.
State Grant Return Procedures
A student who receives a state funded grant and withdraws before the end of a term, may be subject to a return of funds. The percentage calculated under the college’s institutional tuition refund policy will be used to calculate the state return amounts.
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