Repayment of Financial Aid Funds for Students Who "Drop to Zero"

Repayment of Financial Aid Funds Policy, Effective Spring Quarter 2012

Students who formally or informally withdraw from all of their classes on or after the first day of the quarter, and those who complete zero credits, may owe a repayment of a portion of the financial aid funds they received for the quarter. This policy does not apply to work-study earnings.

How the Date of Withdrawal is Determined

The date of withdrawal used to determine whether or not a student owes a repayment of financial aid funds and the amount of the repayment is determined by:

For students in programs for which an outside entity requires attendance to be taken:

• The last date the student attended a class

For all other students:

•  The date the student withdrew or notified the Student Services Office of the intent to withdraw, whichever date is earlier

Or

•  If the student did not withdraw or notify the Student Services Office of the intent to withdraw, the last date of attendance is determined as followed:
•  If no instructors reported a last date of attendance, it will be assumed that the student completed 50% of the quarter (midpoint).
•  If all instructors reported different last dates of attendance that were exactly on or prior to the 60% point, the midpoint will be used as the last date of attendance. (If one or more last dates of attendance occurred after the 60% point, it will be assumed that the student earned 100% of their aid.)
• If the last date of attendance reported by the instructor is the first day of the class session it will be assumed the student never attended.

How the Repayment Amount is Determined

Under the federal government’s “Return of Title IV Funds” policy, students are considered to have “earned” the percentage of their Title IV aid (e.g., Pell Grant, Supplemental Educational Opportunity Grant, Subsidized Stafford Loan, Unsubsidized Stafford Loan) that equals the percentage of the quarter completed in calendar days. For example, if a student completely withdraws from classes after completing 10% of the quarter, that student has “earned” 10% of his/her Title IV aid. The other 90% of the Title IV aid is considered “unearned.”

Students who complete 60% or more of the quarter prior to withdrawing are considered to have earned 100% of their Title IV aid, and therefore no repayment amount is calculated.

Total Repayment Amount

The total repayment amount is determined by multiplying the percentage of “unearned” aid by the amount of Title IV aid received. Once the total repayment amount has been calculated, the next step is to determine the following:

•  the school’s share of the repayment amount
•  the student’s share of the repayment amount
•  the amount a student must pay to Cashiering for tuition and fees as a result of the school’s share of the repayment

School’s Share of the Repayment

The school’s share of the repayment is either the percentage of “unearned” aid multiplied by tuition and fee charges OR the total repayment amount, whichever is less.

Student’s Share of the Repayment

The student’s share of the repayment is determined by subtracting the school’s share of the repayment from the total repayment amount. Any amount of unearned grant funds that a student must return is called an overpayment. The amount of a grant overpayment that a student must repay is half of the grant funds they received or were scheduled to receive.

Students who owe a “student’s share of the repayment” will receive a bill from the Financial Aid Office and must make their payment to the Financial Aid Office. If payment in full is not received by the Financial Aid Office within 45 days after the date of the billing, the debt will be reported to the U.S. Department of Education.

Students May Owe a Balance at Cashiering

If students received Title IV aid and the school’s share of the repayment is greater than the amount of the institutional refund, the student will owe a balance at the Business Office. For purposes of repayment of financial aid, the institutional refund is calculated by multiplying the amount of “refundable” tuition and fee charges paid by Title IV funds by the institutional refund percentage.

Students who owe a balance to the Business Office for their tuition and fees will be billed by the Business Office. Until the bill is paid, students will not be able to register for classes or obtain copies of their academic transcripts.

If Title IV aid paid all or a portion of tuition and fees and the school’s share of the repayment is less than the amount of the institutional refund, the remainder of the institutional refund will be paid in the following order: (1) repay Title IV grants owed by the student as the “student’s share of the repayment; 2) to the student.

Exception to the “Return of Title IV Funds” Policy

If a student whose tuition and fees are paid in full withdraws from all of his/her classes after more than 60% of the quarter (in calendar days) has passed, the “Return of Title IV Funds” policy does not apply. The student will not owe a repayment to the Financial Aid Office, nor will he/she owe Cashiering for a portion of tuition and fees.

Post-Withdrawal Disbursements

Students who are eligible to receive Title IV aid, but who did not receive all of their aid prior to making a complete withdrawal, may be eligible to receive a disbursement of financial aid funds, even though they have withdrawn. This is referred to as a “post-withdrawal disbursement.” To be eligible to receive a post-withdrawal disbursement, students must have a complete financial aid file in the Financial Aid Office and meet all eligibility requirements. Students who are eligible to receive a post-withdrawal disbursement will be notified in writing by the Financial Aid Office and will have 14 days to respond to the notice.

Repayment of Washington State Need Grant (SNG)

Students receiving Washington State Need Grant (SNG) are subject to the Washington State need Grant repayment policy as defined by the Washington State Higher Education Coordinating Board. This policy is effective only if a student completely terminates enrollment by withdrawing from or completing zero credits.

Students who remain enrolled through at least 50% of the payment period (quarter) are considered to have earned 100% of the SNG received and will not owe a repayment to the SNG program. Students who officially or unofficially withdraw before the 50% point of time will owe a repayment. The amount of the repayment is based on the date of the official withdraw or the last date of attendance as documented by the students instructors. Students will be billed for the amount of SNG considered unearned less 50%. Only repayments of $50.00 or more will be identified. If a student attends a portion of a term and withdraws with no verified last date of attendance, the state grant repayment will be 50% of the grant with no additional adjustments.

For example: A student receives a SNG award in the amount of $800.00. The student withdraws from the school at the end of the second week of the quarter. Based on the number of days in the quarter, the student earned 18% of their SNG or $144.00. The amount of the award that is considered unearned is $656.00 ($800.00 - $144.00). 50% of the amount unearned, $328.00, is the amount the student is required to repay.

Examples of how repayments are calculated are available in the Financial Aid Office.