St Cloud Technical & Community College conducts a weekly review of student records, identifying Official and Unofficial withdraws. In addition, an end-of-term review of all records is conducted no later than 30 days after the conclusion of each term to ensure all official and unofficially withdrawn students are evaluated under this policy. After establishing the student’s withdraw date, a Return to Title IV (R2T4) calculation is conducted as prescribed by regulation. This calculation identifies earned and unearned portions of Title IV aid.
If a student completely withdraws from all credits before the 60% point of the semester, his/her financial aid is subject to the R2T4 refund policy. Under this policy, students earn financial aid in proportion to the time they are enrolled up to the 60% point. The unearned share of the federal financial aid must be returned to the program from which it was paid as prescribed by federal regulations in the following order:
- Federal Unsubsidized Direct Loan
- Federal Subsidized Direct Loan
- PLUS Loan
- Federal Pell Grant
- Federal SEOG
For example, if a student withdraws after completing 30% of the semester, s/he is entitled to keep approximately 30% of his/her financial aid and must repay the remaining 70%.
After the 60% point of the semester, the student is considered to have earned all of the financial aid eligibility and no refund is required for withdrawal.
Withdrawal Exemptions for Students Enrolled in Modules
Effective July 1, 2021
Courses which do not run the full length of the term are considered module courses. A student enrolled in only module courses is considered to have withdrawn for return of Title IV purposes when the student ceases attendance and is not scheduled to begin another course within a period of enrollment for more than 45 calendar days after the end of the module the student ceased attending. A student who meets one of the following exemption criteria is not considered to have withdrawn:
Withdrawal Exemptions for programs offered in modules:
- The student completes all the requirements for graduation in their program of study;
- A student is not considered to have withdrawn if the student successfully completes one module or a combination of modules, that includes 49% or more of the number of days in the payment period (excluding scheduled breaks of five or more consecutive days and all days between modules);
- A student is not considered to have withdrawn if the student successfully completes coursework equal to or greater than the coursework required for the institution’s definition of half-time student under 34 CFR 66.2(b) for the payment period
The withdrawal exemptions apply to students as long as the student and program meet the underlying exemption criteria.
Official Withdrawal: When the student officially withdraws from all courses after the semester begins, the Financial Aid Office will use the withdrawal date to determine the portion of the Federal Title IV aid earned (or could have been earned) to be used to pay institutional charges (such as tuition and fees).
Unofficial Withdrawal: A student is said to be unofficially withdrawn if they stop attending and do not receive passing grades in all classes. For a student who has been determined to have unofficially withdrawn, the date of withdrawal for purposes of the Return of Title IV refund calculation is deemed to be the last date of attendance recorded by the faculty at grading.
Timeframe for R2T4 calculation: Federal regulation requires the college to calculate the Return to Title IV refunds within 45 days of determining an official or unofficial withdrawal date.
Post Withdrawal Disbursement (PWD):
A student may be owed a disbursement of Title IV funds after the withdrawal date if the conditions for PWD are met according to the code of federal regulations (as referenced above). A PWD, whether credited to the students account or disbursed to the student or parent directly, will be made from available grant funds before available loan funds. If a student is selected for verification, documents required for verification need to be received no later than 120 days after the student’s last date of attendance. Once processed, a new R2T4 calculation would be completed.
PWD Timeframes:
- A PWD of grant funds will be disbursed within 45 days of the date of SCTCC’s withdrawal date determination.
- A PWD of loan funds will be offered to the student within 30 days of the date of the school’s determination that the student has withdrawn. SCTCC will provide a 14-day response period to the student to accept or decline funds. Written permission from the student is required before loan funds can be disbursed. The disbursement of requested funds must be made within 180 days of the withdrawal date determination.
Treatment of a Title IV Credit Balance When a Student Withdraws: In most cases, the cash management regulations require a school to refund a Title IV credit balance to a student within 14 days. However, when a student withdraws with an outstanding Title IV credit balance, a school is first required to perform an R2T4 calculation to determine, among other things, whether adjustments to the credit balance will occur. The credit balance will be disbursed as soon as possible and no later than 14 days after the R2T4 calculation. In the event SCTCC cannot locate the student (or parent) to whom a title IV credit balance must be paid, the SCTCC Business Office will determine what programs constitute the refund and will notify the Financial Aid office of any unclaimed credit balances that need to be returned to Title IV programs.