A student who has received Title IV grant assistance and withdraws, officially or unofficially, from all courses at EAC during a semester must have a “Return of Title IV Funds” calculated in accordance with 34 CFR 668.22 of the Higher Education Act. An official withdrawal is when withdrawal forms are completed and accepted by EAC. An unofficial withdrawal is when a student simply stops attending and fails.
A return of Title IV funds is owed when a student’s total amount of Title IV grant assistance that the student earned, as calculated in the Return of Title IV funds formula, is less than the amount of Title IV grant assistance that was disbursed to the student, as of the date EAC determines the student to have withdrawn. The difference between the earned Title IV funds and the unearned aid will be returned to the Title IV programs by EAC. Title IV funds will be returned to the program from which the funds originated, not to exceed the amount disbursed from that fund in the following order: Pell Grant, Federal Supplemental Opportunity Grant (FSEOG) and other Title IV programs. Title IV funds unearned by the student as determined by the Return of Title IV assistance formula will be returned as follows: Pell Grant x 50%, FSEOG x 50%; and other Title IV funds x 50%.
If EAC is required to return funds to a Title IV program that were not earned due to the Return to Title IV Funds calculation, EAC will require the student to pay the resulting unpaid institutional charges. EAC policies and procedures governing payment of student accounts are applicable for students owing the college as a result of a Return of Title IV Funds calculation.
The following is a description of the “Treatment of Title IV Funds when a Student withdraws from a Credit Hour Program.”
Step 1: The College will determine if the student received or was eligible to receive Title IV assistance. The amount disbursed in Title IV funds or that could have been disbursed is entered into the formula.
Step 2: The College will determine the percentage of Title IV aid earned by the student.
This is accomplished by determining the last date of enrollment as established by a notice of intent to withdraw or an official withdrawal to the Registrar, or physically attending a class where there is an opportunity for direct interaction between the instructor and students. The last date of attendance may also be determined based on an academically-related activity such as an exam, a tutorial, computer-assisted instruction, turning in a class assignment or attending a study group assigned by the instructor, and/or participating in an online discussion about academic matters. Merely attending for a brief period of time or logging in for an on line course does not constitute attendance.
If a student notifies the Financial Aid Office of intent to withdraw, either orally or in writing, does not withdraw at that time but subsequently withdraws, the first date of notification will be used in establishing the date of withdrawal. If EAC determines that a student did not begin the withdrawal process due to illness, accident, grievous personal loss, or other such circumstances beyond the student’s control, the date that EAC determines is related to that circumstance will be used as the official date of withdrawal. If a student dropped out without notifying EAC the student’s withdrawal date will be the midpoint of the semester or one of the previously mentioned activity dates if that date can be documented. Students who drop out are those who earn no credit for the semester or only earn credit in a seminar/leisure studies course.
The college will calculate the total number of days in a semester minus any period during the semester when a break occurs which is five calendar days or longer.
The student’s total number of days completed is then divided by the total number of eligible days in the semester. If the resulting percentage is less than or equal to 60%, a Return of Title IV Funds calculation is required. If greater than 60% (with or without rounding), no return of funds is required.
Step 3: The College determines the amount of Title IV aid that was earned by the student. The amount of Title IV aid earned by the student is determined by multiplying the percentage calculated in step 2 by the total Title IV aid disbursed plus the Title IV aid that could have been disbursed for the semester.
Step 4: The College now determines total Title IV aid to be disbursed or returned.
The amount to be returned is calculated by subtracting the amount of aid earned from step 3 from the total aid disbursed, step 1. This is the amount of Title IV aid that must be returned by the student.
Step 5: The College determines the amount of unearned Title IV aid due from EAC.
Step 6: EAC will return the unearned aid for which it is responsible as determined in step 5-C. These funds will be returned in the following order, up to the total net amount disbursed from each source: Pell Grant, FSEOG, and other Title IV programs.
Step 7: Students initial amount of unearned Title IV aid which must be returned is determined as follows. The amount returned by EAC as determined in step 4 is subtracted from the amount determined in step 5-C. The resulting amount is what the student must return to the Title IV programs as unearned aid.
Step 8: The student must return unearned aid for which the student is responsible per step 7 by repaying funds to the following sources, in order, up to the total net amount disbursed from each source, after subtracting the amount the school will return. Amounts to be returned to grants are reduced by 50%. The order is: Pell Grant x 50%, FSEOG x 50% and other Title IV programs x 50%. Students will be informed in writing that a repayment is required and be allowed 45 days to repay these funds to EAC. On the 45th days EAC will submit all unpaid repayments to NSLDS as an overpayment.
If, at the time of withdrawal, EAC makes the determination that less aid was disbursed than the student was eligible to receive, a post-withdrawal disbursement will be offered. Post-withdrawal disbursements will continue to be offered within 30 days of the date EAC determined the student withdrew, will be in writing and will identify the types and amounts of Title IV funds that make up the post withdrawal disbursement. Students will be notified that they can accept or decline some or all of the post-withdrawal disbursement that has not been credited to the student’s account to pay unpaid institutional charges. Post withdrawal disbursements to the student will be canceled if no response is received to this notification within 14 days of initial notification. EAC may disburse this payment at a later date if the student subsequently requests the payment. This payment will be processed within 90 days of the request in the current fiscal year; if not in the current fiscal year, the request will be denied. Notification will be provided to the student in writing of EAC’s decision to process or not to process the post withdrawal disbursement.
The following steps will be followed in determining a post-withdrawal disbursement.
Step 1: Amount of the post-withdrawal disbursement as calculated in step 4 -B, example #2, of the Return of Title IV Funds procedures.
Step 2: Determine the post-withdrawal disbursement which will be credited to the students account.
Step 3: The balance of the post-withdrawal disbursement will be offered in writing to the student. The student must respond in writing by a designated deadline stating a desire to receive the post-withdrawal disbursement.