Withdrawals / Return of Title IV
Dropping a module
If a student drops a module after registering, the amount of financial aid the student has been awarded can be greatly affected. Federal funds that have been credited to the student’s account will be recalculated and may have to be returned. Institutional scholarships awarded to students, will be revoked accordingly if course(s) are dropped within the term. A student who drops a module within a term, who is not withdrawing, must complete an Intent to Return form with the Registrar’s office. The date of the return must be within 45 days of the last attendance date. Aid is awarded on the number of credit hours the student enrolls in for each term.
Credit Hours Enrollment Status
- 12 or more Full time
- 9 – 11 hours ¾ time
- 6 – 8 hours ½ time
- 1 – 5 hours less than ½ time
Students who drop hours may have their cost of attendance adjusted based on the number of hours they intend to complete in their term.
Withdrawing from school
Students, who elect to withdraw from courses before completing their term, must make known their intent with the registrar’s office and complete the Official Notice of Withdrawal form. The Registrar will inform the Financial Aid Director of the student’s last date of attendance. Although federal and institutional aid is posted to your account at the beginning of the term, you earn funds as you complete the term. Students who receive financial assistance for that enrollment period will have their financial aid award recalculated according to your withdrawal date and within federal regulations. Always check with the financial aid office before dropping or withdrawing.
For all programs (on-site and online) offered in non-standard term modules, a student is a withdrawal for Title IV purposes if the student ceases attendance at any point prior to completing the payment period or period of enrollment; unless the student is scheduled to begin another module in the same payment period or period of enrollment. This is provided the later module the student will attend begins no later than 45 calendar days after the end of the module the student ceased attending.
Administrative Withdrawals
A student will be administratively withdrawn from a course following two consecutive unexcused absences and will not be entitled to receive a refund for the course. Students who are administratively withdrawn from a course due to lack of attendance will receive a grade of F on their academic transcript. Administrative withdrawals may be initiated by the Registrar or Academic Dean. For students with financial aid, contact will be made with the student by the Director of Financial Aid immediately following the initiation of the administrative withdrawal process to determine whether the student plans to attend subsequent courses for which he or she is registered in that term. Should the student inform the Director of Financial Aid (or any other member of the College’s administration) that he or she does not plan to continue enrollment in subsequent courses, or the student is unresponsive, the official withdrawal process will begin.
Return of Title IV Aid
Students who officially or unofficially withdraw, fail to return from a leave of absence, or are dismissed from enrollment at Williamson College, may owe a repayment of financial aid (Title IV) funds. (Title IV funds include Pell Grants, SEOG, Subsidized and Unsubsidized Direct Loans, and Parent PLUS Loans). Students should be aware that eligibility for future financial aid may be jeopardized by dropping classes or withdrawing from Williamson College after financial aid has been disbursed. Student awards are developed and disbursed based on the student’s enrollment status at the time of registration. If a student withdraws, drops a class or in any way changes his/her enrollment status, he/she may owe a balance to the Business Office. The amount of assistance a student earns is determined on a pro rata bases (if you complete 30% of your payment period or period of enrollment, you earn 30% of the assistance you were originally scheduled to receive). Students who withdraw prior to completing 60% of the term will have their financial aid prorated and unearned funds returned. After the 60% point, the student is deemed to have earned 100% of the Title IV funds. Federal Title IV funds will be returned based on the percentage of period completed. Williamson College has 45 days from the date that it determines a student withdrew to return all unearned funds for which it is responsible.
Federal regulations stipulate how the return of Title IV Funds is calculated and for students who have received federal assistance, the aid must be returned to the appropriate program in the following order:
- Unsubsidized Federal Stafford Loan
- Subsidized Federal Stafford Loan
- Federal PLUS Loan
- Federal Pell Grant
- Federal SEOG
- Other Title IV grants
- Scholarships, that donors specify to be returned in full or part**
**Institutional policy: Because institutional scholarships are awarded on a full-time enrollment, if a course is dropped the scholarship will be revoked which could create a balance on the student’s account. If this creates a balance, the student will be billed for the amount owed.
Students will be billed for any unpaid institutional charges that result from the return of funds to the Title IV programs.
In some cases, a student may be eligible to receive a “post-withdrawal” disbursement after the student completely withdraws from school when the amount of aid earned is less than the amount of aid disbursed. This must be paid within 120 days of student’s withdrawal. In such cases, the financial aid office will notify the student of the “post-withdrawal” disbursement via an award letter email. The school will advise the student or parent that they have 14 calendar days from the date the school sent notification to accept a post withdrawal disbursement.
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