Withdrawals and Refunds
Current federal regulations require the Return of Title IV Funds Policy to be used for all students who receive any type of federal aid when calculating the aid a student can retain after withdrawing. This policy relates to Federal Pell, SEOG, and TEACH Grants as well as all federal loans.
These regulations govern the return of aid disbursed for a student who completely withdraws from a term or payment period. During the first 60% of the payment period, a student “earns” aid in direct proportion to the length of time he or she remains enrolled. The percentage of time that the student remains enrolled determines the percentage of disbursable aid for that period. A student who remains enrolled beyond the 61% point of the payment period earns all aid for the period.
Students who plan to withdraw must submit written notification of withdrawal from a course or the program. Institutional charges and financial aid are adjusted once the withdrawal date is determined. For students receiving financial aid, the refund must first be repaid to the Title IV programs in accordance with existing regulations in effect on the date of withdrawal and with respect to various types of aid. It is possible that the student who withdraws may still have an outstanding balance due to the University. The withdrawal date is determined as follows:
- Official withdrawals: the later date of when the student began the institution’s withdrawal process OR officially notified the institution of intent to withdraw.
- Unofficial withdrawals: If the student has to leave without notification because of circumstances beyond the student’s control, the institution will use the documented last date of participation in an academic activity.
The percentage of the period that the student remained enrolled is calculated based on number of countable days the student was enrolled. This calculation is determined by dividing the number of days enrolled by the total days in the enrollment period. Calendar days are used, including weekends.
Distribution of Unearned Aid
If a student has not earned all of the federal aid received to date at the point of withdrawal, funds are repaid in the following order:
- Federal Unsubsidized Stafford Loan
- Federal Subsidized Stafford Loan
- Federal Grad PLUS Loan
- Federal Parent PLUS Loan
- Federal PELL Grant
- Federal SEOG Grant
- Federal Teach Grant
Unearned aid must be returned as soon as possible but no later than 45 days after determining the student has withdrawn.
Post-Withdrawal Disbursement
A student that is determined to have received less Title IV aid than earned will be offered a post-withdrawal disbursement for the amount of earned aid that was not received. Any post-withdrawal disbursement made must meet required conditions for late disbursement.
Disbursement of Title IV Grant Funds
Post-withdrawal grant disbursements will be credited to a student’s account for outstanding allowable current semester charges or refunded to the student if their balance is zero. The school is permitted to credit any Title IV grant funds to the student’s account without the student’s permission. The school will post any credit applying to current charges to the student’s account. If the student has no current allowable charges, the disbursement must be made no later than 45 days of the school’s determination the student withdrew.
Disbursement of Title IV Loan Funds
Post-withdrawal loan disbursements will be credited to a student’s account for outstanding allowable current semester charges or paid directly to the student or parent for a Direct Parent PLUS Loan. Prior to making any disbursement, the student/parent must be notified in writing within 30 days of the school’s determination the student withdrew. The letter must identify the type and amount of the funds. If loan funds are available, the school must explain the student/parent has the option to accept/decline all or part of the loan. The letter must also inform the student/parent a response must be received within 14 days of the date of notice. If the school does not receive a response, no further disbursement is made. If the request is denied due to a late response, the school will send the student/parent notification.
Credit Balance due to Return of Funds Calculation
The school must determine the correct Title IV credit balance, considering the results from both the Return to Title IV calculation and the institutional refund calculation. If after the Return to Title IV funds and the institutional refund calculations are applied to the student’s account and a credit balance results, the credit balance will be disbursed as soon as possible but no later than 14 days after the date of the Return to Title IV calculation is performed.
Financial Aid Satisfactory Academic Progress (SAP)
This process is separate from the academic Satisfactory Academic Progress. Federal regulations require institutions to monitor both quantitative and qualitative progress towards a degree.
- Quantitative – student must be able to complete the degree program within 150% of the reported program length. In addition, the student must successfully complete 67% of the attempted hours in each payment period.
- All transfer hours accepted by Baker University are considered when reviewing attempted hours.
- All hours earned when not receiving financial aid count.
- Undergraduate students who earn grades of F, I, W, WP, WF, NC, or AU will have the courses counted as attempted hours, but not completed hours.
- Graduate students who earn grades of D, F, I, W, WP, WF, NC, or AU will have the courses counted as attempted hours, but not completed hours.
- Repeating a course counts as attempted credit hours each time the course is repeated.
- Qualitative – student must maintain the minimum cumulative GPA for their specific program.
- Minimum GPA for undergraduate students is 2.0.
- Minimum GPA for graduate students is determined by degree, see Graduation Requirements section.
Graduate student’s academic progress will be reviewed by the Office of Financial Aid after each payment period.
Graduate Students: Federal regulations allow an institution that monitors SAP every payment period to place a student on “Warning” for one more payment period if the student can reach minimum SAP standards by the end of the next payment period. The student can receive Title IV aid during this “Warning” payment period. If a student is not maintaining SAP after the “Warning” payment period has ended, the student loses Title IV eligibility. Students who are placed on Financial Aid Warning will receive written notification from the Financial Aid Office of their status. Such students will be offered the opportunity to appeal the Financial Aid Advisory Committee for reinstatement of Title IV aid.
- Appeals can be made in some circumstances, such as medical problems, illness, death of a family member, relocation, or employment changes.
- Appeal must be in writing.
- Student must explain why he/she failed to make SAP, and what has changed to allow the student to make SAP by the end of the next payment period.
- Appeals are reviewed by the Financial Aid Advisory Committee. The student is informed of the decision within one week. Decision notifications are sent to the student’s Baker email.
- If appeal is approved, the student has one more payment period of Title IV aid eligibility. If the student is not successful in meeting SAP standards, the student will no longer be eligible for Title IV aid of any kind, including grants and loans.
- In order to regain Title IV eligibility, the student must meet minimum SAP standards. The student may appeal for reinstatement of financial aid eligibility after completing a payment period and meeting GPA minimum standards.
Students might be filing two petitions, one to the Office of Registrar and a separate one to Financial Aid. The two petitions will not be evaluated by the same committee. It is possible for a student to be on Financial Aid Suspension and still be allowed to enroll at the University at the student’s expense.
