Return of Title IV Refund Policy

The Financial Aid Office is required by federal statute to recalculate federal financial aid eligibility for students who withdraw, drop out, are dismissed, or take a leave of absence prior to completing 60% of a semester/payment period. The Federal Title IV financial aid programs must be recalculated in these situations. Title IV funds are Pell, ACG, Smart, Teach Grant, SEOG, Perkins Loan, Stafford Subsidized, Stafford Unsubsidized, and PLUS loans.

Percent of aid earned = the number of days completed up to the withdrawal date, divided by the total days in the semester/payment period. (Any break of five days or more is not counted as part of the days in the semester.)

Funds are returned to the appropriate federal program based on the percent of unearned aid using the following formula:

Aid to be returned = (100% minus the percent earned) multiplied by the amount of aid disbursed toward institutional charges.

The University if required to return a portion of the funds and the student is 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 University. It that is the case, the student should contact the Student Accounts Office to make arrangements to pay the outstanding balance.

Return of Funds Calculations
Examples refund calculations may obtain from the Financial Aid Office. Please note that charges used in these examples may not reflect true University charges. In accordance with federal regulations, you may be required to repay a portion of federal or state financial aid received or credited to your account if you withdraw prior to the end of the semester. In all cases, refunds will be credited back to the financial aid programs in the following order: 

Federal Stafford Loan 
Federal Perkins Loan 
Federal PLUS Loan 
Federal Pell Grant
ACG
Smart Grant
Federal SEOG
Teach Grant
Other Title IV assistance 
State Programs 
Private / Institutional Programs 
Student