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Student Withdrawal and Return to Title IV Funds Policy

In accordance with the federal code of regulations 34 CFR 668.22, when a federal financial aid recipient withdraws from all classes (officially or unofficially, as defined by regulations) during a term, San Juan College must determine the withdrawal date and use a federally mandated calculation to determine the amount of grant and/or loan assistance that the student earned. If a student received less assistance than what was earned, s/he may qualify for those funds. If the student received more assistance than earned, the unearned “excess” funds must be returned by the school and/or aid recipient to the appropriate federal aid program.

Note: The Return of Title IV Funds calculation is different from the San Juan College tuition and fee refund calculations.

 

Academic Calendar

San Juan College operates on credit hours with standard terms. Some students enroll in terms offered in modules. Fall and Spring semesters are 16-weeks of instruction, and Summer term is 12 weeks. All terms include non-semester length courses, i.e., modules that do not span the entire length of the term.

Payment Period and Total Number of Calendar Days

A return of title IV funds (R2T4) is computed for a payment period. A payment period is a term, i.e., fall semester, spring semester, and summer term.

For R2T4, the total number of calendar days in a term is defined by the student’s scheduled course enrollment, i.e., start and end dates of courses, excluding scheduled breaks of at least five consecutive days. The days are counted from the start date of the earliest course to the end date of the last course scheduled to complete (i.e., has the latest end date), excluding scheduled breaks. This may be less than the full length of a term that is 16 weeks in the fall and spring and 12 weeks in the summer.

Scheduled Breaks

Scheduled breaks must be at least five consecutive days to be excluded in the R2T4 calculation. It includes periods when San Juan College is not scheduled in session, e.g., holidays, and when the student is not scheduled to attend a course within the term.

Treatment of Drop/Add Courses

In the count of total days in the payment period, a course that is officially dropped prior to a student ceasing attendance is not included as days that a student was scheduled to attend, unless the student remained enrolled in other courses for those days. A course that is officially added prior to the student ceasing attendance is included, even if the student never began attending. Note:  There is more than one drop/add period in a term offered in modules.

Does Not Require Taking Attendance

San Juan College does not require attendance be taken, as federally defined.

Designated Official(s) or Office(s) to be Notified of College and Course Withdrawal

San Juan College has designated the Registration and Records Office to be notified of a college or course withdrawal.

Withdrawal from College

In accordance with the federal code 34 CFR 668.22(a)(2)(i), a student is considered to have withdrawn from a term if the student does not complete all the days in the term that the student was scheduled to complete.

Note: The definition of withdrawal for standard (semester) term credit hour programs changed effective July 1, 2011. Prior to July 1, successful completion of at least one course in a term was treated as having completed a term.

Completed Scheduled Days – Not a College Withdrawal

A student has completed a term if:        

  • passing grades are received in all courses that the student was scheduled to attend during the term
  • a non-passing grade in the last course or courses the student was scheduled to attend, and it can be documented to have been completed.

Did Not Complete Scheduled Days — College Withdrawal

For federal aid purposes, a student will be treated as a college withdrawal, unless determined otherwise, if a student:

  • submits course withdrawal(s) from all courses scheduled for the term
  • submits a course withdrawal from the last course or courses scheduled to attend, i.e., the course with the latest end date in the scheduled enrollment, whether or not any other course(s) was completed prior to ceasing attendance.
  • takes all non-passing grades in the courses scheduled for the term, i.e., F, I, U, X, RR, NR and/or W.
  • takes a non-passing grade in the last course or courses scheduled to attend, i.e., the course with the latest end date in the scheduled enrollment, i.e., F, I, U, X, RR, NR and/or W.

Withdrawal Date

For the purpose of calculating Return of Title IV Funds (R2T4), a student’s withdrawal date depends on the type of withdrawal.

Student-Initiated Notification – Official Withdrawal

An official withdrawal occurs when a student withdraws (and/or drops) from:

  • all courses in the term or
  • all course(s) scheduled to complete for which a grade(s) is yet to be assigned.

The withdrawal date will be the date the Registrar’s Office receives written notification from a student of his or her intent to withdraw via personal, postal, electronic, or fax delivery, or a phone call. The written notification may be a San Juan College Course Withdrawal Form or a written request.

*The last day of official withdrawal from a course is included in the academic calendar of each term. See Academic Calendar.

No Student-Initiated Notification – Unofficial Withdrawal

An unofficial withdrawal occurs when a student:

  • receives all non-passing grades in courses scheduled to complete
  • receives a non-passing grade in the last course(s) scheduled to complete, i.e., the course with the latest end date in the student’s enrollment schedule

The withdrawal date will be the midpoint of the term, except that San Juan College may use the last date of attendance at an academically-related activity, if documented by a College.

If there is no student-initiated notification because of circumstances beyond the student’s control, i.e., illness, accident, grievous personal loss or other circumstances, the date related to the onset of that circumstance will be used as the withdrawal date. A student should file an appeal to the Financial Aid Office for special circumstances review committee consideration.  The student will be notified of the committee’s decision within 14 days.

Last Date of Attendance

The College may always use as the withdrawal date the date that is reported as the last date of attendance at an academically related activity by a faculty member on a class roster, grade roster/sheet, online grading system, or other documented source. The faculty member will maintain the documentation of the last date of attendance. The date will be stored in San Juan College’s administrative database (Colleague).

Date of Determination of Withdrawal

The date of determination that a student withdrew varies depending upon the type of withdrawal.

Student-Initiated Notification – Official Withdrawal

For an official withdrawal, the date of determination of withdrawal is the same date as San Juan College recorded as the withdrawal date.

No Student-Initiated Notification – Unofficial Withdrawal

For an unofficial withdrawal, the date of determination of withdrawal is the date of the report used to identify that a student had withdrawn. The date will be within 30 days of the end of the term.

If circumstances beyond a student’s control cause an unofficial withdrawal, the date of determination is the date the Vice President of Enrollment’s review committee for special circumstances makes a decision and establishes a college withdrawal date.

Calculation of Earned Title IV Assistance

Federal Aid Used in R2T4 Calculation

Federal aid used in the R2T4 calculation includes Federal Pell Grant, Supplemental Educational Opportunity Grant (SEOG), Federal Iraq Afghanistan Service Grant (IASG), Direct Subsidized Loans, Direct Unsubsidized Loans, and Direct PLUS loans that have been disbursed or are yet to be disbursed.  Federal Work Study is excluded.

Percentage of Title IV Aid Earned

The amount of Title IV federal aid assistance earned by the student is determined on a pro-rata basis up to the end of 60% of the term. For example, if the student completed 30% of a term, 30% of the aid originally scheduled to be received funds would have been earned. Once a student has completed more than 60% of a term, all awarded aid has been earned.

Total Days Scheduled to Complete

Total days scheduled to complete is the denominator in the calculation of percentage of earned aid.  The days are counted from the start date of the earliest course to the end date of the last course scheduled to complete (i.e., has the latest end date), excluding scheduled breaks of at least five consecutive days.

Total Days to Date of Withdrawal

Total days to date of withdrawal are the numerator in the calculation of percentage of earned aid. The number of days reported is the total from the start date of first course to the withdrawal date, excluding scheduled breaks of at least five consecutive days.

Amount of Title IV Aid Earned

After calculating the percentage of aid earned, a calculation of the amount of aid earned will be performed. The total aid disbursed and yet to be disbursed for the term is multiplied by the percentage earned rounded to the one-hundredth decimal.

Post-Withdrawal Disbursements

If the total amount of the Title IV grant and/or loan assistance earned as of the withdrawal date is more than the amount that was disbursed to the student, the difference between the two amounts will be treated as a post-withdrawal disbursement. In the event that there are outstanding charges on the student’s account, San Juan College will credit the student’s account for all or part of the amount of the post-withdrawal disbursement of grant assistance (not loan), up to the amount of the allowable charges (i.e., tuition, fees, and authorized book and other charges).

Post-Withdrawal Disbursement of Grant Funds

A post-withdrawal disbursement of grant funds is applied towards outstanding term charges on the student’s account and may pay up to the amount of the allowable charges (i.e., tuition, fees, and authorized book and other charges).

Any remainder of grant aid is paid to the student. The student will be notified within 30 days of the date of determination of withdrawal of the post-withdrawal disbursement. A refund will be sent as soon as possible but no later than 45 days of the date that San Juan College determined that the student withdrew (officially or unofficially).

Post-Withdrawal Disbursement of Loan Funds

A post-withdrawal disbursement of loan funds may be paid if the student is eligible to receive the funds. The student (or parent if a PLUS loan) will be notified within 30 days of the date of determination of withdrawal that loan funds are available. The student will be given the opportunity to accept, decline, or reduce the amount of loan. Upon receipt of a timely response from the student (or parent), San Juan College will disburse the loan funds as soon as possible but no later than 180 days of the date of determination of the student’s withdrawal date. Loan funds will be applied towards the outstanding term charges on the student’s account. The funds may pay up to the amount of the allowable charges (i.e., tuition, fees, and authorized book and other expenses). Any remainder will be paid directly to the student (or parent).

San Juan College maintains the right to decide whether or not to make a post-withdrawal disbursement if the student (or parent if a PLUS loan) responds after 14 days of the date that the notification was sent. If San Juan College decides not to make the post-withdrawal disbursement, it will inform the student in writing within 15 days of the decision.

Return of Unearned Funds to Title IV

If the total amount of Title IV grant and/or loan assistance that was earned as of the withdrawal date is less than the amount that was disbursed to the student, the difference between the two amounts will be returned to the Title IV program(s) and no further disbursements will be made.

Funds Returned by San Juan College

Amount of Funds to be Returned

If a student has received excess funds, San Juan College must return a portion of the unearned excess equal to the lesser of:

  • The student’s institutional charges multiplied by the unearned percentage of funds,

or

  • The entire amount of the excess funds.

Institutional charges

Institutional charges are tuition, fees, and other educationally related costs, e.g., book, supply, and computer equipment from the College Bookstore that are charged to a student’s account.  Allowable charges are tuition and fees that do not require student permission to pay with federal aid funds.  Other educationally related expenses require a student authorization, except that book and supply expenses that are covered by “excess” Pell Grant, i.e., “excess” is funds remaining after payment (or pending payment) of tuition and fees.

Order in Which Funds are Returned

The funds will be returned in the order below as prescribed by federal regulations, within 45 days from the date of determination that a student 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 Service Grant

A student will be notified of any funds returned by San Juan College within 75 days of the date of determination that the student withdrew.

Funds Returned by the Student

In the event that there is remaining unearned aid, the student is responsible for returning those funds.

Return of Grant Funds

When grant funds should be returned, the law provides that the student may repay 50% of a federal grant rather than 100%. San Juan College will notify the student that there was an overpayment which must be paid in full within 45 days, after which the overpayment will be referred to the U.S. Department of Education’s Student Credit Management Collections.

Return of Loan Funds

When loan funds should be returned (student or parent if PLUS loan), they will be repaid in accordance with the terms of the promissory note over a period of the time.

Unearned Aid Returned and Repayment by Student

Effective [month/day/year], all funds returned by San Juan College to Title IV programs will be charged back to the student’s account, both the school’s portion and the student’s portion.   

Enrollment After Title IV Funds Have Been Returned

When a student returns to a College within a term after withdrawing, and unearned Title IV funds have been returned to their respective program accounts, the aid may be reinstated if San Juan College is able to recover the funds for disbursement and the student is eligible.

NOTE:  The return of Title IV funds is separate from the College’s tuition and fee refund policy.