Return of Funds Procedure
How a Withdrawal Affects Financial Aid
Return of Title IV Funds Procedure
Note: This procedure is separate and apart from the state refund policy for tuition and fees. View the state refund policy.
The Return of Title IV Funds procedure shall apply to all students who withdraw, drop out or are expelled from Catawba Valley Community College (CVCC), and receive financial aid from Title IV funds. 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:
- Federal Pell Grants
- Federal SEOG
Students who withdraw from all classes prior to completing more than 60% of an enrollment term will have their eligibility for aid recalculated based on the percent of the term completed. For example, a student who withdraws completing only 30% of the term will have "earned" only 30% of any Title IV aid received. The remaining 70% must be returned by the school and/or the student. CVCC encourages students to read this procedure carefully. If a student is thinking about withdrawing from all classes PRIOR to completing 60% of the semester, they should contact the Office of Scholarships and Financial Aid to see how their withdrawal will affect their financial aid. It can negatively affect the student's overall academic progress AND it will create a debt to CVCC, the Department of Education or both that the student is responsible for paying! Once more than 60% of the enrollment term has been completed, students earn all the assistance that they were scheduled to receive for that period.
Withdrawal Date
As CVCC is an institution that does not require attendance, a student’s withdrawal date is:
- the date the student began the institution’s withdrawal process (as described in the CVCC Catalog) 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, if available (see “Unofficial Withdrawal Procedure for Federal Student Aid Purposes Only” below).
Refunds due on all institutional charges, including tuition and fees, will be calculated using the state refund procedure.
Calculating the Return of Title IV Refund
Title IV aid is earned in a prorated manner on a per diem basis up to and including the 60% point in the semester. The percentage of Title IV aid earned shall be calculated by dividing the number of days completed by the student by the total number of days in the semester or term. The percent of term completed shall be the percentage of Title IV aid earned by the student. The total number of calendar days in a term of enrollment shall exclude any scheduled breaks of more than five days.
If a student withdraws from all coursework on or before the 60% of the period, CVCC is required to return a portion of their financial aid that is unearned. The amount of aid that the College will return to the Federal aid programs is the lesser of:
- the total amount of unearned Title IV assistance to be returned; or
- an amount equal to the total institutional charges incurred by the student for the payment period or period of enrollment multiplied by the percentage of the Title IV grant assistance that has not been earned by the student.
As a result of this calculation, federal funds may not cover all unpaid school charges due to CVCC upon the student's withdrawal. Any debt created by CVCC returning a portion of the student's aid to the federal programs is due and payable by the student. Unpaid debts to CVCC will prevent the student from receiving an official academic transcript and prevent the student from registering for more coursework at CVCC until the debt is paid in full.
If a student does not receive all of the funds that was earned, they may be due a post-withdrawal disbursement. If the post-withdrawal disbursement includes loan funds, the student must give their permission before CVCC can disburse them. Students may choose to decline some or all of the loan funds so that they don’t incur additional debt. CVCC will automatically use all or a portion of post-withdrawal disbursement of grant funds for tuition, fees, and other institutional charges. We need the student's permission to use the post-withdrawal grant disbursement for all other school charges. If permission is not given, the student will be offered the funds. However, it may be in the student's best interest to allow CVCC to keep the funds to reduce their debt at the school.
Returning Funds to the Department of Education
Unearned Title IV aid shall be returned to the following programs in the following order:
- Federal Pell Grant
- Federal SEOG
- Other Title IV grant programs
Any amount of unearned grant funds that must be returned is called an overpayment. The maximum amount of a grant overpayment that must be repaid is half of the grant funds received or were scheduled to be received. Students do not have to repay a grant overpayment if the original amount of the overpayment is $50 or less. Students must make arrangements with their school or the Department of Education to return the unearned grant funds.
Unofficial Withdrawal Procedure for Federal Student Aid Purposes Only
A student who stops attending class or leaves CVCC without following the official procedures for withdrawal from a course or from CVCC is subject to receiving a grade of “F” posted on their record for each course in question.
Failure to complete courses will have a significant impact on a student’s financial aid status. When a student receives all F's day 38 of the semester. The length of the semester totaled 112 days. The student completes 38 of 112 calendar days (38/112).
|
Percentage of Title IV aid earned |
34% |
|
Original Pell Award |
$2908.00 |
|
Amount of Title IV aid earned |
$2908.00 x 34% = $988.72 |
|
Amount of Title IV aid unearned (to be returned) |
$2908.00 – $988.72 = $1919.28 |
|
Institutional charges incurred by student |
$1646.94 |
|
Percentage of Title IV aid unearned |
100% - 34% = 66% |
|
Institutional charges unearned |
$1646.94 x 66% = $1086.98 |
|
Pell Grant to be returned to Department of Education |
$1086.98 |
|
Initial amount of unearned Title IV aid due from student |
$1919.28 – $1086.98= $832.30 |
|
Amount of Title IV grant protection |
$2908 x 50% = $1454.00 |
|
Title IV grant fund for student to return |
$832.30 - $1454.00 = $0.00 |
CVCC policy requires the student to repay the unearned institutional charges of $1,086.98 to CVCC. CVCC is required to refer a student to the US Department of Education upon failure to repay a grant overpayment. The student then becomes ineligible to receive further Title IV funds at any US institution until satisfactory payment arrangements are made.
Return of Funds Policy for State Grant Programs Procedure
(This policy is effective for academic terms that commence after July 1, 2012)
Calculation
CVCC is required to complete a withdrawal worksheet provided by the North Carolina State Education Assistance Authority to calculate the amount of funds it must return when a student withdraws on or before the 35% point of the term. In completing the worksheet, “last date of attendance” is determined consistent with Title IV regulations for return of Title IV funds. Any debt to CVCC created by this withdrawal calculation is due and payable by the student.
- Official Withdrawal
- Institutional Charges: If a student is entitled to a refund of tuition and fees, the state grant funds must be returned before issuing the student any funds.
- Non-institutional expenses: If a student withdraws on or before the 35% point of the term, CVCC shall use the state grant withdrawal worksheet and prorate the amount of state funds disbursed for non-institutional expenses and return state funds.
- Any credit balance created by state funds and awaiting disbursement must be returned to the state grant program rather than be released to the student.
- CVCC is not required to return any funds for non-institutional expenses when the student officially withdraws after the 35% point of the term.
- Unofficial withdrawal or no earned academic credit
- If a student does not officially withdraw from a term, CVCC shall determine and document the last date of attendance consistent with regulations for the return of Title IV funds;
- CVCC will use the state-provided worksheet to calculate any required return of state funds; the worksheet will calculate using the same method identified for an official withdrawal.
- If CVCC cannot document the last date of attendance, it shall:
- Use the worksheet to calculate any required return of state funds, noting that the last date of attendance cannot be determined.
- The worksheet will calculate the refund using the 10% point in the semester as of the date of withdrawal if CVCC indicates that the last date of attendance or academic activity could not be established.
- In all cases where a student earns no academic credit for a term, CVCC must determine whether they completed the term. If CVCC determines that the student did not withdraw, but instead completed the courses and earned no academic credit, CVCC is not required to return state funds. If CVCC determines that the student unofficially withdrew, CVCC must use the worksheet to determine if any funds must be returned to state grants. Future disbursements of state aid are subject to Federal Title IV satisfactory academic progress determinations by CVCC.
- If a student does not officially withdraw from a term, CVCC shall determine and document the last date of attendance consistent with regulations for the return of Title IV funds;
Order of Return of State Funds for Withdrawal
The return of state funds required by this policy will be applied in the following order up to the maximum amount of funds disbursed from each program:
- Education Lottery Scholarship Program (NCELS);
- Community College Grant (NCCCG);
- North Carolina National Guard Tuition Assistance Program