If you withdraw or are expelled from the university prior to the 60-percent point of the semester, you are required to repay any unearned portion of your federal Title IV aid. The aid that must be considered when determining your unearned amount is as follows:

• Federal Pell Grant 
• Academic Competitiveness Grant (ACG) 
• National Science and Mathematics Access to Retain Talent (SMART) Grant
• Federal Supplemental Educational Opportunity Grant (SEOG)
• Direct Loan (and FFEL)
• Teacher Education Assistance for College and Higher Education (TEACH) Grant
• Perkins Loan

If you are enrolled on or after the 60-percent point, you have earned all of your Title IV aid (i.e., no Title IV funds will need to be repaid as a result of a withdrawal). Bear in mind that these rules apply only to federal, not state and institutional, financial aid programs.

Determining Unearned Title IV Aid

If you decide to withdraw (or are expelled), you must complete a withdrawal form (available via the Registrar’s Office) and visit with a financial aid counselor. The counselor will provide counseling to you regarding the consequences of your withdrawal (i.e., repayment obligations, impact on your satisfactory academic progress, etc.). You will need to repay any unearned Title IV funds. If these funds are not repaid within the required timeframe, the debt will be transferred for collections.

You can compute a rough estimate of the amount that you will need to repay prior to visiting with a counselor by using the U.S. Department of Education’s Treatment of Title IV Funds When A Student Withdraws form.  

Unofficial Withdrawals for all F’s

If you fail to earn a passing grade in at least one of your courses (i.e., all F’s, all I's or a combination of all F's, W's or I's) during a semester, you are considered to have, for purposes of federal Title IV funds, unofficially withdrawn from the university. As a result, a withdrawal calculation must be performed to determine the amount of Title IV funds that you must repay. The only exception is when an institution can document that you were enrolled on or after the 60-percent point of the semester (e.g., professor’s verification of class attendance, taking an exam, etc.). 

Once semester grades post, and if you fail to earn a passing grade in at least one of your courses, Financial Aid and Scholarships will contact your professors. If no professor confirms you were engaged in an academically-related activity on or after the 60-percent point of the semester, you (as an unofficial withdrawal) are eligible to have earned federal Title IV aid only up to the 50-percent point of the semester and must repay any aid you received beyond that amount. Once the amount you must repay is determined, Financial Aid and Scholarships will mail you a letter with the repayment details.

However, if at least one of your professors can confirm that you were engaged in an academically-related activity on or after the 60-percent point of the semester, you are considered to have earned your financial aid (and no repayment of funds will be required).