Withdrawal-Return of Title IV Federal Student Aid
Students, who wish to withdraw from all courses during the semester, must take formal action to do so by contacting the Dean of Students Office, Founders Hall 104. Students who wish to return after a withdrawal must also contact the Dean of Students and make re-application to the college.
Students who withdraw from the college will be withdrawn from all courses for the semester in which they withdraw. Students who withdraw during fall semester also will be withdrawn from all J-term courses and may, at the earliest, re-apply to the college for spring semester using the Special Student Application.
Official withdrawal
To be officially withdrawn, a student must notify the college of his/her intent to withdraw by contacting the Dean of Students Office, Founders Hall 104. The withdrawal date is the date the student notifies the Dean of Students Office of his/her intent to withdraw and/or begins the withdrawal process by completing a withdrawal form. However, in unusual circumstances such as unforeseen illness or events beyond the student's control, the college may use as the withdrawal date the student’s last date of attendance at an academically related activity, as documented by the college.
Students officially withdrawing from the college will receive "AW" grades for their courses.
Unofficial withdrawal
An unofficial withdrawal occurs when a student leaves the school without notice, or when all courses in which the student is enrolled are given an F grade due to non-completion. Students who leave the college or stop attending all courses after the Friday of week six (day three for J-term), without completing the official withdrawal process, will receive "F" grades for their courses.
The student’s last date of attendance or participation in any academic-related activity will be the date used to calculate the Return of Title IV Funds.
Requests for exceptions to the official withdrawal date and the unofficial withdrawal date must be made in writing to the Dean or Associate Dean of Students (Founders Hall 104). Exceptions may be granted for reasons such as illness, accident, grievous personal loss, or other such circumstances beyond the student's control. The Dean or Associate Dean of Students may determine a withdrawal date related to that circumstance.
Federal Financial Aid Refunds - Return of Title IV Calculation
Federal Title IV funds are awarded and disbursed to students under the assumption that the student will attend the school for the entire period for which the funds are awarded. When a student leaves the institution before completing the semester, the student may no longer be eligible for the full amount of Title IV funds.
A student recipient of Federal Title IV funds (i.e., Federal Pell, SEOG or TEACH grants or Perkins, Direct or PLUS loans) who withdraws from the school before completing 60% of the semester is subject to the Return of Title IV Calculation to determine the percentage of Title IV funds required to be returned to the federal government. The Return of Title IV calculation is a federally mandated formula to determine how much federal funding was "earned" up to the time of withdrawal.
The Title IV funds that were disbursed in excess of the earned amount must be returned to the federal government by the school and/or you. If you received a refund from financial aid, which was to be used for education-related personal expenses or housing expenses, you may be required to return a portion of those funds to the school. This portion represents funds that were intended to pay your education-related expenses through the end of the semester. The amount to be returned to the school will be determined by your institutional costs, refunds you might have received for non-school expenses, and the funds that must be returned to the government.
The amount to be returned to the federal government will be calculated from the date you officially withdrew from classes or, in the case of an unofficial withdrawal, the last date you were involved in an academically related activity. An official withdrawal occurs when a student follows the published process for withdrawing from the school prior to the end of the semester.
To determine the amount of aid you earned up to the time of withdrawal, Augustana’s Office of Financial Aid will determine the percentage of the semester you attended. The percentage used to determine the return of federal student aid funds is equal to the number of calendar days remaining in the semester divided by the number of calendar days in the semester. Scheduled breaks of more than five consecutive days are excluded. The resulting percentage is then used along with your school costs and total federal funds that you received (funds that were disbursed directly to your school student account and possibly refunded to you) or that you were eligible to receive, to determine the amount of aid that you are allowed to keep.
Any unearned Title IV aid must be returned to the federal government within 45 days of the date of the determination of your withdrawal. Augustana’s Office of Financial Aid will notify you with instructions on how to proceed if you are required to return funds to the government. Any funds returned after the Return of Title IV Aid calculation is completed and processed are then used to repay Augustana funds, state funds, other private sources, and the student, in proportion to the amount received from each non-federal source, as long as there was no unpaid balance at the time of withdrawal. All aid sources are repaid before any funds are returned to the student.
Funds returned to the federal government are used to reduce the outstanding balances in individual federal programs. Financial aid returned by you and/or your parent or the school must be allocated in the following order:
- Federal Unsubsidized Direct Loan
- Federal Subsidized Direct Loan
- Federal Perkins Loan
- Federal Direct Parent Loan (PLUS)
- Federal Direct Grad Plus
- Federal Pell Grant
- Federal Supplemental Educational Opportunity Grant (SEOG)
- Federal Teach Grant
A student may be eligible for a post-withdrawal disbursement if, prior to withdrawing, the student earned more federal financial aid than was disbursed. If a student is eligible for a post-withdrawal disbursement for Title IV funds, it will be processed for the student and a refund will be issued within 14 days of the credit balance.
If the post-withdrawal disbursement includes loan funds, Augustana must get the student’s permission before it can disburse the loan. Students may choose to decline some or all of the loan funds so that they do not incur additional debt. A notice will be sent out to the student, and the signed, original document must be returned to Augustana’s Office of Financial Aid within 14 days.
Augustana may automatically use all or a portion of the post-withdrawal disbursement of grant funds for tuition and fees, but must have the student’s permission to apply the post-withdrawal grant disbursement to other school charges. If the student does not give his/her permission, the student will be offered the funds. However, it may be in the student’s best interest to allow the school to keep the funds to reduce the student’s debt at the school.
Please note that accepting a post-withdrawal disbursement of student loan funds will increase a student’s overall student loan debt, which must be repaid under the terms of the Master Promissory Note. Additionally, accepting the disbursement of grant funds will reduce the remaining amount of grant funds available to the student should the student choose to continue education at a later time.
Refund of Illinois Monetary Award Program (MAP Grant)
A student may receive State of Illinois Monetary Award Program (MAP) Grant payment for tuition expenses incurred. If a student withdraws, the student may receive MAP payment for tuition and fees incurred up to the semester award provided the college’s tuition refund policy indicates the student has incurred tuition charges in the amount of the claim.
Refund of Augustana Institutional Financial Aid
Institutional aid includes Augustana grants and scholarships, and endowed and gift awards. The schedule of tuition refund and the refund/cancellation of institutional aid applies if a student completely withdraws from all courses during the semester, and is based upon the date of withdrawal as determined by the Dean of Student’s Office.
Students will be notified through Arches of all aid changes as a result of their withdrawal. Please note that federal aid, state aid, outside awards and other loans may not follow the same refund percentages as the college. For more information, please contact the Office of Financial Aid.
Aug. 19, 2019