This requirement applies to you ONLY if:
- You received federal student aid, and
- You are withdrawing prior to completing 60% of the period for which the aid was provided.
The new federal law required federal aid recipients to "earn" most of the aid they receive by staying enrolled in college at least half time. Students who withdraw prior to completing 60% of the semester/ quarter for which they received federal student aid may be required to return some of the aid they were awarded.
The new law assumes that you used your Title IV student aid (e.g., Stafford or Perkins Loans) to pay your institutional charges -- tuition, fees, housing and food and certain other institutional charges -- whether you did or not. Thus, if you withdraw prior to completing 60% of the semester for which you were awarded aid, a pro rata portion of your aid must be returned to the federal government.
First, the University will restore to the appropriate federal fund source a proportional share of institutional charges that you have paid. Second, if the amount returned by the University is not enough to repay the entire amount that you haven't "earned" by the length of your enrollment, you will be required to return portions of amounts that you received to pay for non-institutional charges -- books, supplies, off-campus living expenses.
Amounts that must be returned to federal aid sources, whether by the university or by you, will first be applied to your federal loans. With respect to any amount you owe after the university has paid back its share, you will be permitted to repay the loans based on the original terms of the loans - usually a ten-year repayment term after a grace period and deferments if you return to school. In addition, you may be required to restore portions of grants such as Pell and Supplemental Educational Opportunity Grants (SEOGs) that you have received. In the case of "unearned" portions of federally funded grants or scholarships, you will be expected to pay 50% of the "unearned" portion immediately or to make satisfactory arrangements to repay that amount.
If you are entitled to a refund from the University of amounts you paid to cover institutional charges, any refund due you will first be applied to your obligation to return "unearned" aid before you receive money back. Thus, portions of institutional refunds may be applied on your behalf to your outstanding Stafford or Perkins Loans or to the federal portions of your grants or scholarship and not actually refunded directly to you.
This policy is based on 34 CFR, Section 668.22 of Title IV of the Higher Education Act of 1965, as amended.
