RETURN OF TITLE IV FUNDS
WITHDRAWAL FROM SCHOOL REFUND POLICY

Students who must leave the University prior to the end of the semester should follow the University guidelines for withdrawing from school. An Official Withdrawal Form must be obtained from the Counseling Center, completed, signed by the respective offices and submitted to the Registrar’s Office before a student is considered officially withdrawn. Students who stop attending all of their classes but fail to complete the withdrawal process are considered as unofficially withdrawn.  The U.S. Department of Education has established guidelines for institutions to follow for students who withdraw (officially or unofficially). The policy listed below applies to students who officially and unofficially withdraw from the University.

Federal student aid recipients who begin attending classes during a semester, who cease attending or performing academic activities prior to the end of the semester, and never complete an Official Withdrawal Form are considered by the federal government to have Unofficially Withdrawn. The University will consider the Unofficial Withdrawal date to be the midpoint of the semester (unless documentation exists of an earlier date of academic activity by the student).

When a federal financial aid recipient withdraws (officially or unofficially) after attending at least the first class day, the University will return, and the financial aid recipient will be required to repay a prorated portion of funds received based upon a federally required calculation (see Return of Title IV Funds section below). The Student Financial Aid Office is required to calculate the amount of federal Title IV financial aid students have earned and the amount that is unearned. The unearned portion of Title IV financial aid must be returned to the appropriate financial aid programs according to federal and institutional guidelines.

Students who withdraw on or before the 60% point of the semester will have a percentage of their financial aid calculated as earned and unearned on a pro-rata basis.  If a student is enroll beyond the 60% of the semester, all financial aid is considered earned.   

Example:  You withdraw on the 25^th day of the semester and there are 116 days in the semester, your earned and unearned financial aid would be calculated as follows:

(excluding scheduled breaks of 5 days or more)

If University records show a federal student aid recipient never attended a class and/or never performed an academically related activity for a semester or term, then the recipient never established eligibility for any aid funds that may have been disbursed for that semester. In addition, any student aid recipient who withdraws, drops all classes prior to the first day of class for a semester did not establish eligibility for any aid funds that may have been disbursed for that semester or term. In either case, the student aid recipient must repay the entire amount of aid disbursed for that semester or term.

If a student did not receive any federal student aid but did receive other types of aid funds, and subsequently officially withdraws, refunds or repayments will be based upon the University’s refund policy.

Repayment of the Unearned Amount is calculated as follows:

School will return to the appropriate financial aid program(s) the lesser of:

• total amount of unearned aid or

• institutional charges (tuition, fees, room and board) multiplied by unearned percent

Student will return:

• remaining balance of unearned aid to the appropriate program(s) plus any amount the school returned that exceeds the amount of institutional charges that are credited back to the withdrawing student based upon the Institutional Refund Policy calculation.

The Unearned Amount of aid must be returned to the applicable Title IV aid programs in the following order:

Funds will be refunded, to the applicable programs, in the following order:

1. Unsubsidized Federal Direct Loan

2. Subsidized Federal Direct Loan

3. Federal Perkins Loan

4. Federal Direct PLUS Loan

5. Federal Pell Grant

6. Federal Supplemental Educational Opportunity Grant

7. Other Title IV Aid Programs

If the student is required to repay funds through the federal grant program, the student will be required to return no more than 50% of the federal grant amount that was originally received. If a balance is due the University, a bill will be sent to the student’s permanent home address and will be due upon receipt.

With the exception of any amount owed to the school, students and/or parents who are required to return a portion of all of their loan proceeds, are allowed to repay the unearned amount according to the terms of the loan.

Students who are withdrawn from the University must complete and Exit Counseling. The Exit Counseling can be completed on-line at www.ncat.edu, click on financial aid, click on Direct Loan and click on Exit Counseling.

Note:  The information contained in this section is subject to change, without notice, in order to comply with federal, state, or university requirements.

Expenses and Financial Aid

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