Understand Your Bill

Disbursement of all financial aid awards will be applied as a credit to your term bill as noted on the Award Letter. Please note that when your account is credited with financial aid funds, you are able to view the date and amount by accessing your account. You have the right to cancel all or a portion of the loan proceeds within 14 days of the disbursement notice by notifying the Financial Aid Office in writing.

If the total credits, including any cash payments you make, exceed the term bill, a refund will be processed for you through the Financial Aid Office.

Verification (Federal Financial Aid)

Verification is a process initiated either by the U.S. Department of Education or by the Financial Aid office requiring you to submit a verification worksheet. If your application is selected for verification, you will not be eligible for federal aid until this process is finalized. To avoid unnecessary delays, please submit all required documents promptly.

Withdrawal and Refund Policy

Withdrawal from the Institution: Students are expected to request in writing with the Office of the Registrar intention to cancel or withdraw from the institution. Students who withdraw from the institution on or after the 22nd day of the semester, whether with or without formal notice, incur full tuition liability for all courses not yet started. Federal Student aid recipients who have withdrawn from all coursework in a term are subject to a proration of their aid based on a calculation known as Return to Title IV. Please see the Return to Title IV policy for detailed information regarding this student policy.

Withdrawal from Individual Class: Students who withdraw from a class prior to the 22nd day of the session in which the class is offered incur no tuition liability for that class. Classes dropped on or after the 22nd day of the session in which the class is offered incur full tuition liability.

Return of Federal Student Aid (Title IV) Funds

When the College Unbound, Financial Aid Office awards Federal Student Aid (FSA) to a student the assumption is that the student will attend the College for the entire term for which FSA funds were awarded. When the student withdraws before the end of the term they may no longer be eligible for the full amount of the federal funds they were scheduled to receive.
College Unbound students who are FSA recipients and withdraw from ALL of their classes prior to the end of the term, are subject to Federal student aid regulations known as Return to Title IV (R2T4). The calculation for return of FSA funds will determine the amount of grant and loan assistance a student “earned” for the term they were enrolled at the College. The R2T4 calculation is a proration of funds received for the term and will be completed by the Financial Aid Office.

Procedure

Students who withdraw prior to the 60% point of a term have only earned a portion of the FSA they were awarded. A proration schedule is used to determine the amount of FSA funds the student has earned at the time of withdrawal. AFTER the 60 percent point in the term, the student has earned 100 percent of the FSA funds they are scheduled to receive during that term.
Any portion of FSA determined to be “unearned” will be returned to the appropriate Federal aid programs. Distribution of Refunds, Repayments, and Return of Title IV Funds by the Business Office will be done in the following order:

1. Unsubsidized Direct Stafford Loans
2. Subsidized Direct Stafford Loans
3. Federal Pell Grants
4. Federal Supplemental Educational Opportunity Grants (FSEOG)
5. State Need Grants
6. Other programs providing aid

The College will invoice the student for the amount of tuition that was returned that exceeds the College’s institutional refund policy.

The “unearned” portion of the aid that was disbursed directly to the student will also be calculated. If applicable, the student will owe a repayment to the FSA programs. The student will be sent an overpayment letter by the Business Office and will be given 45 days to make the repayment. The student will be ineligible for further FSA until the funds are repaid or satisfactory payment arrangements have been made with the U.S. Department of Education.

For a student who withdraws after the 60 percent point-in-time, there are no unearned funds.

However, College Unbound will still complete a Return of Federal Student Aid Funds calculation in order to determine whether the student is eligible for a post withdrawal disbursement.

Student Account Adjustments

The calculation of federal student financial aid funds earned by the student is separate from and has no relationship to institutional charges incurred by the student. Any over/under payment of institutional charges will be handled in accordance with the College’s institutional refund policies.