Return of Institutional and Title IV Funds
The information on this page is for students withdrawing from the College after the start of a semester. When a student withdraws from the College during a period of enrollment (semester), the official withdrawal date is the date the student last attended classes. The week of the semester this date falls within determines the percentage of the semester’s charges the student is responsible for, based on the College’s Schedule of Charges for Withdrawal.
Institutional Funds Withdrawal Policy
The College’s institutional policy uses the same percentage to determine the amount of institutional aid the student is eligible to receive. For example, a student withdraws during the 1st week of a semester and is responsible for 10% of the full semester’s charge. The student is eligible to retain 10% of the institutional aid they were awarded for the semester.
Federal Return of Title IV Funds Withdrawal Calculation
Students receiving financial assistance under Title IV of the Higher Education Act of 1965, as amended, who withdraw during the first sixty percent of the semester (measured in calendar days); will be subject to a “Return of Title IV Funds” calculation to determine the portion of their federal student aid that must be returned to the federal government. Students who withdraw after the sixty percent point are considered to have “earned” all of their federal student aid. The Dean of Students Office determines the student’s official or unofficial withdrawal date. The official withdrawal date is determined by the date the student notifies the Office of their withdrawal or their last date of attendance, whichever is earlier. The unofficial withdrawal date is used when a student does not officially notify the office of their withdrawal and the last date of academic related activity is used. The withdrawal date is communicated to the Financial Aid Office for use in the Return of Funds calculation.
If a student leaves the institution prior to completing 60% of a payment period or term, the financial aid office recalculates eligibility for Title IV funds. All Third party (employer, government, sponsor, etc.) payments will be refunded back to the third party per Code of Regulations and the Return to Title IV calculations. Recalculation is based on the percentage of earned aid using the following Federal Return of Title IV funds formula:
Percentage of payment period or term completed = the number of days completed up to the withdrawal date divided by the total number of days in the payment period or term. This percentage is also the percentage of earned aid.
If the student receives more federal student aid than the amount earned, the school, the student, or both must return the unearned funds in a specified order. The amount of federal student aid to be returned is determined by subtracting the amount of earned Title IV aid from the amount of Title IV aid that was actually disbursed to the student.
If a student earned less aid than was disbursed, the College would be 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 institution. If a student earned more aid than was disbursed to them, the College would owe the student a post-withdrawal disbursement.
The College of Wooster must return the amount of Title IV funds for which it is responsible no later than 45 days after the date of the determination of the date of the student’s withdrawal.
Return of funds are allocated in the following order:
- Unsubsidized Federal Direct Stafford Loans
- Subsidized Federal Direct Stafford Loans
- Federal Direct Parent (PLUS) Loans
- Federal Pell Grants for which a return of funds is required
- Federal Supplemental Opportunity Grants for which a return of funds is required
If after the Federal Return of Title IV Funds Withdrawal Calculation is complete, the student is entitled to a refund of a credit balance, the Business Office will refund that amount to the student within 14 days. If the student owes a balance after the calculation, the Business Office will notify students by sending a billing statement.
In some cases, a student may not have received all the federal funds they ‘earned’ and may be eligible for a late disbursement of awarded aid. In these cases, the student will be notified by the Financial Aid Office as soon as possible, but no later than 30 days after notification of withdrawal.
- Any grant funds a student is now eligible for will be applied no later than 45 days after notification of withdrawal. There is no need for confirmation from the student to have these funds applied.
- Any loan funds a student is now eligible for will require the loan borrower to respond within 14 days of the notification from the Financial Aid Office if they wish to accept the loan.
- If the additional funds applied to a student’s account creates a credit balance, the funds will be refunded to the student within 14 days from the date the funds are applied.