Financial Consequences of Withdrawal or Non-Attendance | HCC

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Financial Consequences of Withdrawal or Non-Attendance

Warning:

Are you aware that dropping or failing classes could mean that the Financial Aid Office may ask you to repay some or all of your financial aid awards?  It's a federal requirement.  If you think you need to drop courses or might fail, please consult all the student options available that may help you.  Consult the financial aid office to make sure you are doing what is best for you financially. 

Treatment of Return Title IV Funds When a Student Withdraws

When a recipient of Title IV grant or loan assistance withdraws from an institution during the semester in which the recipient began attendance, the institution must determine the amount of the Title IV grant or loan assistance (not including Federal Work Study) that the student earned as of the student's withdrawal date. Unearned Title IV funds must be returned to the Title IV program. To view the entire policy click here.

The Return of Title IV Funds/Institutional Refund Policy

This policy applies to students who withdraw or are expelled or leave without notice, and refunds for these students are determined according to the following policy:

  • The term "Title IV Funds" refers to the Federal Financial Aid Programs authorized under the Higher Education Act of 1965 (as amended) and includes the following programs: Direct Subsidized Loans, Direct Unsubsidized Loans, Direct PLUS Loans, Federal Pell Grants and Federal SEOG.
  • A student's withdrawal date is:
    • The date the student began the institution's withdrawal process or officially notified the institution of intent to withdraw; or
    • The midpoint of the period for a student who leaves without notifying the institution; or
    • The student's last date of attendance at a documented academically related activity.
  • Title IV aid is earned in a prorated manner on a per diem basis up to the 60% point in the semester. Title IV aid is viewed as 100% earned after that point in time. A copy of the worksheet used for this calculation can be requested from the Student Financial Aid Office. In accordance with federal regulations, when financial aid is involved, refunds are allocated in the following manner:
  1. Direct Unsubsidized Stafford Loan
  2. Direct Subsidized Stafford Loan
  3. Direct Plus Loan
  4. Federal Pell grant
  5. Federal FSEOG
  6. Other Title IV Assistance
  7. Other Federal Sources of Aid
  8. Other State, Private and Institutional Aid
  9. Student

Institutional and student responsibilities in regard to the return of Title IV funds

HCC's responsibility in regard to the Return of Title IV funds include:

  1. Providing each student with information given in this policy;
  2. Identifying students who are affected by this policy and completing the Return of Title IV Funds calculation for those students;
  3. Returning any Title IV funds that are due the Title IV programs.

The student's responsibilities in regard to the Return of Title IV Funds include:

  1. Returning to the Title IV programs any funds that were disbursed directly to the student and which the student was determined to be ineligible for via the Return of Title IV funds calculation.
  2. The fees, procedures and policies listed above supersede those published previously and are subject to change at any time.

HCC official withdrawal policy 

SUMMARY OF THE REQUIREMENTS OF 34 CFR 668.22

Treatment of Title IV Aid When a Student Withdraws

The law specifies how your school must determine the amount of Title IV program assistance that you earn if you withdraw from school. The Title IV programs that are covered by this law are: Federal Pell Grants, Iraq and Afghanistan Service Grants, TEACH Grants, Stafford Loans, PLUS Loans, Federal Supplemental Educational Opportunity Grants (FSEOGs) and Federal Perkins Loans.

When you withdraw during your payment period or period of enrollment (your school can define these for you and tell you which one applies), the amount of Title IV program assistance that you have earned up to that point is determined by a specific formula. If you received (or your school or parent received on your behalf) less assistance than the amount that you earned, you may be able to receive those additional funds. If you received more assistance than you earned, the excess funds must be returned by the school and/or you.

The amount of assistance that you have earned is determined on a pro rata basis. For example, if you completed 30% of your payment period or period of enrollment, you earn 30% of the assistance you were originally scheduled to receive. Once you have completed more than 60% of the payment period or period of enrollment, you earn all the assistance that you were scheduled to receive for that period.

If you did not receive all of the funds that you earned, you may be due a Post-withdrawal disbursement. If your Post-withdrawal disbursement includes loan funds, your school must get your permission before it can disburse them. You may choose to decline some or all of the loan funds so that you don't incur additional debt. Your school may automatically use all or a portion of your Post-withdrawal disbursement of grant funds for tuition, fees, and room and board charges (as contracted with the school). The school needs your permission to use the Post-withdrawal grant disbursement for all other school charges. If you do not give your permission (some schools ask for this when you enroll), you will be offered the funds. However, it may be in your best interest to allow the school to keep the funds to reduce your debt at the school.

There are some Title IV funds that you were scheduled to receive that cannot be disbursed to you once you withdraw because of other eligibility requirements. For example, if you are a first-time, first-year undergraduate student and you have not completed the first 30 days of your program before you withdraw, you will not receive any Direct Loan funds that you would have received had you remained enrolled past the 30th day.

If you receive (or your school or parent receives on your behalf) excess Title IV program funds that must be returned, your school must return a portion of the excess equal to the lesser of:

  1. your institutional charges multiplied by the unearned percentage of your funds, or
  2. the entire amount of excess funds.

The school must return this amount even if it didn't keep this amount of your Title IV program funds.

If your school is not required to return all of the excess funds, you must return the remaining amount.

Any loan funds that you must return, you (or your parent for a PLUS Loan) repay in accordance with the terms of the promissory note. That is, you make scheduled payments to the holder of the loan over a period of time.

Any amount of unearned grant funds that you must return is called an overpayment. The maximum amount of a grant overpayment that you must repay is half of the grant funds you received or were scheduled to receive. You do not have to repay a grant overpayment if the original amount of the overpayment is $50 or less. You must make arrangements with your school or the Department of Education to return the unearned grant funds.

The requirements for Title IV program funds when you withdraw are separate from any refund policy that your school may have. Therefore, you may still owe funds to the school to cover unpaid institutional charges. Your school may also charge you for any Title IV program funds that the school was required to return. If you don't already know what your schools refund policy is, you can ask your school for a copy. Your school can also provide you with the requirements and procedures for officially withdrawing from school.

If you have questions about your Title IV program funds, you can call the Federal Student Aid Information Center at 1-800-4-FEDAID (1-800-433-3243). TTY users may call 1-800-730-8913. Information is also available on Student Aid on the Web at www.studentaid.gov.

RETURN UNEARNED MILITARY TUITION ASSISTANCE FUNDS

Purpose:  To comply with U.S. Department of Defense Policy on returning unearned tuition assistance funds.

Military Tuition Assistance (TA) is a U.S. Department of Defense program.  Tuition Assistance rules vary by branch of service and even very between different units within the same branch depending on whether the unit is active, reserve, or National Guard.  Tuition Assistance funds will be applied to tuition costs only.

Military Tuition Assistance Recipients

TA is awarded to a student under the assumption that the student will attend school for the entire period for which the assistance is awarded.  When a student withdraws, the student may no longer be eligible for the full amount of TA funds originally awarded.  To comply with the U.S. Department of Defense policy Hopkinsville Community College (HCC) will return any unearned TA funds on a proportional basis through at least 60% portion of the period for which the funds were provided.  If a service member stops attending due to a military service obligation, HCC will work with the affected service member to identify solutions that will not result in a student debt for the returned portion.

Withdrawals

A student’s official withdrawal date is used as the last day of attendance and to calculate earned percentage of TA.  A student’s official withdrawal date is determined by using the last date of attendance that is documented and submitted to the Office of the Registrar.

Once the last date of attendance has been determined, HCC will recalculate a student’s TA eligibility based on the following formula:

Number of days completed
                                     _________________________________________   = Percent of TA earned 
Total days of the course (start to end date)

The amount of TA funding that is earned is determined on a pro-rata basis.  For example, if a student completed 30% of the course, s/he earned 30% of the TA funds that s/he was originally scheduled to receive.  The remainder of the unearned funds (70%) would be returned to the TA program.  If this results in an unpaid tuition balance, payment would be the responsibility of the student.  Once a student has attended at least 60% of the period for which TA funds were approved, the student is considered to have earned 100% of the TA funds.