Withdrawals and Repayments

Title IV funds are awarded to the student under the assumption that the student will attend school for the entire period for which the assistance is awarded. Therefore, the amount of federal aid a student earns is determined on a pro rata schedule. Earned and unearned federal aid amounts are calculated by the number of days the student attend classes and the total number of days in the semester. If the student withdraws from all classes (officially or unofficially) before attending up to the 60% point of the semester, either a portion or all Title IV aid will be considered “unearned” and the school must  return the appropriate portion of unearned aid to the federal program. This debt must be repaid to the university by the student. Approved tuition refunds/appeals will not affect the return calculation but may decrease the amount owed to the University.

1. Unsubsidized Federal Direct Loans
2. Subsidized Federal Direct Loans
3. Federal PLUS Loans (both Parent and Graduate)
4. Federal Pell Grants
5. FSEOG Grants
6. Federal TEACH Grants
   
   The Financial Aid Office has 45days from the date the school determined the student had withdrawn to determine the last date of attendance.
   

The last date of attendance is the last date the student participated in an academically related activity. This can include:

• Submitting an academic assignment Taking an exam, an interactive tutorial or computer-assisted instruction
• Attending a study group that is assigned by the school
• Participating in an online discussion about academic matters
• Initiating contact with a faculty member to ask a question about the academic subject studied in the course

Academically related activities do not include activities where a student may be present, but not academically engaged, such as:

• Living in institutional housing
• Participating in the school’s meal plan
• Logging into an online class without active participation
• Participating in academic counseling or advisement

A student’s certification of attendance that is not supported by school documentation would not be acceptable documentation of the student’s last date of attendance at an academically related activity.

A student is considered to have officially withdrawn from a semester when an official withdrawal form is filled out and turned into the Registrar’s Office. The withdrawal form is signed by a financial aid staff member at the time of withdrawal. The last date of attendance used on the return calculation will be the date the student signed the withdrawal form. If there is information on the form that suggests that this date may be incorrect, the financial aid office will confirm the last date of attendance with the student’s professors.The last date of attendance for students that are administratively withdrawn from the University is the date on the suspension/expulsion notification received by the financial aid office from the office of student conduct.

Any enrolled student who either ceases attendance without officially notifying the University or fails to earn any credit hours for the term is considered an unofficial withdrawal. These students are subject to a return calculation if it is determined that they did not complete at least 60% of the term. The amount of aid returned is based on the last date of attendance as determined by the University. The financial aid office will confirm last date of attendance using registration/grade records at the end of the term. Professors will be contacted for last date of attendance if needed. 

 If the amount of aid disbursed to the student is less than the amount the student earned, the amount may be considered a post-withdrawal disbursement. Post-withdrawal eligibility can be used to credit outstanding charges on a student’s account. FGCU has 30 days from the date that the University determined the student withdrew to offer any amount of the post-withdrawal disbursement to the student. The student may accept or decline some or all of the post-withdrawal disbursement that is not credited to the student’s account. The student must respond within 14 days from the date that the University sends the notification to be eligible to receive the post-withdrawal disbursement. A student’s or parent’s response to an offer of a post-withdrawal disbursement does not have to be in writing; however, FGCU must document the response. If the student does not respond to the University’s notice, no portion of the post-withdrawal disbursement can be disbursed to the student’s account or refunded, however, the school can use a portion or all of the disbursement to pay for any outstanding charges. FGCU is required to contact a withdrawn student prior to making a post-withdrawal disbursement of loan funds and explain to the student (or the parent in case of a parent PLUS loan) his or her obligation to repay the funds if the funds are disbursed, and to confirm that any loan funds are still required by the student.Only aid that is eligible to be disbursed at the time of withdrawal will be included in a post-withdrawal disbursement.

 Title IV funds are awarded to a student to attend an entire payment period or period of enrollment, and the funds are intended to cover the student’s educational and living expenses for the entire period. The law specifies that a student earns Title IV funds on a pro rata basis through 60 percent of a period, based on days completed in a credit-hour program or clock hours completed in a clock-hour program. A student is considered to have withdrawn from a payment period or period of enrollment in which the student began enrollment if the student ceased attendance in all scheduled courses without completing all of the days the student was scheduled to complete in the period.However, if a student provides written confirmation to FGCU — at the time of ceasing attendance — that the student plans to attend another course later in the same period, the student is not considered to have withdrawn from a standard-term program. For a nonstandard-term or non-term program, the next course the student plans to attend during the period must begin within 45 days after the end of the course the student ceased or failed to attend, in order for the student not to be considered withdrawn. If a student does not resume attendance within the scheduled timeframe, the student is considered to have withdrawn as of the date on which attendance ceased. If a student does not provide written confirmation of plans to return to FGCU later in the same period, the University considers the student to have withdrawn and will perform a return of Title IV funds calculation to determine if any funds must be returned. However, if the student does return to school in the same period — even if the student did not provide written confirmation of plans to do so — the student is not considered to have withdrawn after all and is eligible to receive Title IV funds for which the student was eligible before ceasing attendance. FGCU would then reverse the R2T4 process and provide any additional funds the student is eligible to receive at the time of return. This impacts all programs offering courses shorter than an entire term, including semester-based programs with a summer term consisting of two, consecutive six-week summer sessions.

 A Return of Title IV Funds calculation must be completed upon learning of the death of a student. If it is determined that an overpayment is due the funds must be returned per federal regulations. The estate of the student is not responsible for paying the debt created by returning the overpayment. Post-withdrawal disbursements cannot be made to a deceased student and any credit balances created by Title IV Funds must be returned to the program the funds originated from.

Back to top