Students Who Withdraw From or Stop Attending Classes
The Financial Aid Office is required by federal statute to recalculate federal Title IV financial aid eligibility or Military Tuition Assistance (TA) for students who withdraw, drop out, are dismissed, or take a leave of absence prior to completing 60% of a payment period or term. The federal Title IV financial aid programs and Military TA must be recalculated in these situations.
If a student leaves the institution prior to completing 60% of a payment period or term, the Financial Aid Office recalculates eligibility for Title IV funds. Recalculation is based on the percentage of earned aid using the following Federal Return of Title IV funds formula:
- Percentage of payment period or term completed = the number of days completed up to the withdrawal date divided by the total days in the payment period or term. (Any break of five days or more is not counted as part of the days in the term.) This percentage is also the percentage of earned aid.
Funds are returned to the appropriate federal program based on the percentage of unearned aid using the following formula:Aid to be returned = (100% of the aid that could be disbursed minus the percentage of earned aid) multiplied by the total amount of aid that could have been disbursed during the payment period or term.
If a student earned less aid than was disbursed, the institution would be required to return a portion of the funds, and the student would be required to return a portion of the funds. When Title IV funds are returned, the student borrower may owe a balance to the University, which must be paid within 30 days of withdrawing from the University.
If a student earned more aid than was disbursed to him/her, the institution would owe the student a post-withdrawal disbursement, which must be paid within 120 days of the student’s withdrawal.
The institution must return the amount of Title IV funds for which it is responsible no later than 45 days after the date of the determination of the date of the student’s withdrawal.
Returns are allocated in the following order:
- Federal  Direct Unsubsidized  Loans
- Federal Direct Subsidized  Loans
- Federal Direct PLUS Loans
- Federal Pell Grants
- Federal Supplemental Educational Opportunity Grants (SEOG)
- Other Title IV assistance for which a return of funds is required (e.g., TEACH).
Return of Institutional Aid
All VWU Scholarships, Grants and Virginia State Aid will be adjusted based on the percentage of tuition and fees charged at the point of withdrawal.
Return of Military Tuition Assistance (TA)
Military Tuition Assistance (TA) is awarded to a student under the assumption that the student will attend school for the entire period for which the assistance is awarded. When a student withdraws, the student may no longer be eligible for the full amount of TA funds originally awarded.
To comply with the Department of Defense policy, Òùµ´ÉÙ¸¾ will return any unearned TA funds on a prorate basis through at least the 60% portion of the period for which the funds were provided. TA funds are earned proportionally during an enrollment period, with unearned funds returned based upon when a student stops attending. These funds are returned to the military service branch. Instances when a Service member stops attending due to a military service obligation, VWU will work with the affected Service member to identify solutions that will not result in student debt for the returned portion.Â
Withdrawing or dropping courses prior to the start of classes, 100% of TA is returned to the military service branch.
15-week Course - 60% of course is completed at 9 weeks
The following amounts will be returned based on withdrawal/drop date:
| Drop Timeframe | Amount Returned |
|---|---|
| Before classes start or during first week | 100% return |
| During weeks 2-3 | 90% return |
| During weeks 4-5 | 70% return |
| During weeks 6-7Â Â | 50% return |
| During weeks 8-9 | 40% return (60% of course is completed) |
| During weeks 10-15 | 0% return |
12-week Course - 60% of course completed at 7.2 weeks
The following amounts will be returned based on withdrawal/drop date:
| Drop Timeframe | Amount Returned |
|---|---|
| Before classes start or during first week | 100% return |
| During week 2 | 90% return |
| During week 3 | 75% return |
| During weeks 4-5Â Â | 60% return |
| During week 6 | 50% return |
| During week 7 | 40% return (60% of course is completed) |
| During weeks 8-12 | 0% return |
7.5-week Course - 60% of course completed at 4.5 weeks
The following amounts will be returned based on withdrawal/drop date:
| Drop Timeframe | Amount Returned |
|---|---|
| Before classes start or during first week | 100% return |
| During week 2 | 90% return |
| During week 3 | 70% return |
| During weeks 4Â Â | 50% return |
| During week 5 | 40% return (60% of course is completed) |
| During week 6-7 | 0% return |
Please contact the Financial Aid Office directly if you have any questions or concerns.