Title IV Funds Requirement
When you receive federal student aid, it’s under the assumption you will be enrolled for a specified amount of time, such as a semester, and take a certain number of credit hours. If you withdraw from college, drop some of your courses, or don’t participate, you may have to return some or all of your federal funds.
Return of Title IV Funds Summary
After you withdraw or drop classes, federal regulations (34 CFR 668.22) require us to determine whether you were enrolled long enough to earn the financial aid you received. Therefore, we will need to calculate a “Return of Title IV Funds.”
Federal Aid Earned
You earn federal student aid by attending courses during the semester. When you withdraw from college or stop attending classes, you may end up with unearned financial aid that you will need to pay back.
Greater than 60% Equals 100%
As a federal aid recipient, you are considered to have earned 100 percent of your aid if you complete more than 60 percent of the days you are scheduled to complete during the semester.
What is the length of the semester block (to determine the 60%)?
For federal Return of Title IV Funds purposes, the length of a semester block and the percentage of completed days depends on your courses enrolled start and end dates. The total number of days is counted from the start of the semester to the end date of the last course you are scheduled to complete, excluding scheduled breaks that are five or more consecutive days. This may be less than the full length of a semester, which is 16 weeks.
Withdrawal From College
Regarding federal aid, you are considered to have withdrawn from college within the semester if any of the following apply:
- You withdrew from all your courses.
- You withdrew from all scheduled courses for which a grade is yet to be assigned.
- You submitted a Medical Withdrawal form to withdraw from the college because of special circumstances.
- You received all non-passing grades in scheduled courses.
- You received a non-passing grade in the last course(s) scheduled to complete (i.e., the course with the latest end date in your enrollment schedule, unless the last date of attendance is at the end of the course).
Return of Federal Student Aid Funds
Federal regulations require us to determine the amount of federal grant and loan assistance you earned. If you received less assistance than what was earned, you may qualify for those funds. If you received more assistance than you earned, you must return the unearned funds. Any portion of funds that has to be returned by the school is your obligation to your college. In addition, you may owe funds directly to the federal programs, for example, student loan funds. Funds will be returned in the following order within 45 days from the date that we determined that you withdrew.
- Unsubsidized Federal Direct Loans
- Subsidized Federal Direct Loans
- Federal Direct PLUS loans
- Federal Pell Grants
- Federal Supplemental Educational Opportunity Grants (FSEOG)
- Federal Iraq Afghanistan Grant
You will be notified:
- Within 30 days of the date it is determined that you withdrew, if you qualify for a post-withdrawal disbursement.
- Within 30 days of the date it is determined that you withdrew, if you owe a grant overpayment.
- Within 60 days of the date it is determined that you withdrew, if you received an excess of funds that was returned by your college and owe it money.
Return of Military Tuition Assistance
If you withdraw from a course for which you have received military tuition assistance funds, Maricopa Community Colleges is required to return any unearned portion of tuition assistance back to your branch of the Department of Defense (DOD). You can read the policy on our 2.2.10 Refund Policy page. Be aware that withdrawing from a course for which you have received tuition assistance funds can result in a debt with the Department of Defense and Maricopa Community Colleges. The potential percentage of what may be returned to the DOD and what you may owe to Maricopa is based on the length of your class.
Contact a financial aid advisor if you are thinking about withdrawing from school or dropping classes as these actions can have a domino effect — your school may have to return your funds, you could lose your financial aid eligibility, and you might have to start repaying your student loans.