The Higher Education Act of 1965, as amended Oct. 1, 1998, allows institutions participating in any Title IV program (e.g. Pell Grant, Direct Loan Program, etc.) to implement the policy and make a “good faith effort” to enforce it prior to the writing of the final regulations, which became effective on October 7, 2000.
The law focuses on the return of Title IV Funds received for the semester the student was enrolled if that student completely withdraws or partially withdraws (terms with modules) from the College prior to the 60 percent point of the semester.
If a student withdraws after the 60 percent point of the semester or minimester, the student will be considered to have earned all funds disbursed and no return of funds will be required unless a student had received a loan that was subject to repayment under the terms of the loan.
Any student who decides to completely withdraw, or stop attending classes at the College during a semester and who has been disbursed Title IV funds may be required to repay a portion of those funds to the Department of Education and/or the College based on the federal calculation. Returns for funds are calculated in the following order:
- Unsubsidized Direct Loans
- Subsidized Direct Loans
- Direct Plus Loans
- Federal Pell Grants
- FSEOG
Students are determined to be completely withdrawn when they officially withdraw from all registered courses OR when the College determines students are no longer attending classes. A-B Tech does not require that courses have an attendance policy. As such, if a student receives a failing grade in all courses (or a combination of failing grades and withdrawals), the College will use the 50% point to complete the calculation. If the 50% point is used and the student attended more than 50%, the student may contact the Financial Aid Office to provide proof of course attendance past 50%. Aid is considered earned after the 60% point of a semester. It is possible that the student may owe the Department of Education directly based on the number of days attended. Breaks of five days or more will be excluded from the calculation when determining how many days the student attended. If this occurs, the balance will not be covered by A-B Tech and the student will need to pay The Department of Education directly. Students are given 45 days from the date of an official withdrawal or 30 days from the end of the payment period for an unofficial withdrawal to return funds.
If the student completely withdrawals prior to disbursement, the College will complete a calculation to determine how much aid was earned (this is called a post-withdrawal disbursement). If the student was packaged loans, those amounts will be prorated and offered to the student within 30 days. The student will have 14 days from the date of the offer to accept or decline. If the student does not accept within 14 days, the College will assume the offer for loans was declined. Federal Pell Grant and FSEOG awards (federal grants) will be processed and disbursed within 45 days. Any amount will first be applied to the student’s balance with the college with residual funds disbursed to the student if any remain within 14 days. Funding will be returned by the College to the Department of Education within 31 calendar days.