Withdrawal Policy and Return of Title IV Aid (R2T4)
Title IV funds are offered to students under the assumption that the student will
attend school for the entire period for which the assistance is received. When a student
drops or withdraws from courses or the term, the student may no longer be eligible
for the full amount of Title IV funds that the student was originally scheduled to
receive.
Students should also refer to the official academic withdrawal policy described in
the current course catalog.
Separate from the Return of Title IV funds (hereafter referred to as R2T4) policy,
Cal Lutheran has a Tuition Withdrawal Policy Please contact the Student Accounts Office to determine the amount that the student
will be charged for the time they were enrolled. Students will be charged for any
amounts that must be returned due to the R2T4 calculation and these balances must
be paid by the student to Cal Lutheran. The percentage used to calculate the return
of unearned institutional aid dollars will correspond to the percentage of the Cal
Lutheran Tuition Withdrawal Policy.
If the Registrar’s Office receives documentation and reduces the percentage charged
for tuition, the percentage used to calculate the return of institutional aid dollars
will be adjusted to correspond with the reduced percentage charged for tuition.
If the contracted charges (i.e. tuition, fees, and/or housing and meals) are adjusted
downward by the Registrar or Residence Life Office after the withdrawal was finalized,
any credit balance will go toward outstanding charges on the student's account or
be refunded directly to the student.
When a federal financial aid recipient is considered withdrawn, institutions are required
to determine the percentage of Title IV financial aid “earned” by the student and
return the unearned portion to the appropriate aid program.
The Cal Lutheran Financial Aid Office performs the Return of Title IV funds (R2T4)
calculation and coordinates with the Student Accounts Office the return of unearned
Title IV funds.
Students are considered to be recipients of Federal Title IV aid if they are eligible
to receive or have received funds from one or more of the following programs for the
academic term:
Federal Direct Unsubsidized Loan
Federal Direct Subsidized Loan
Federal Direct Plus Loan
Federal Pell Grant
Federal Supplemental Educational Opportunity Grant
Federal TEACH Grant
If a student ceases attendance (drops or withdraws; including medical withdrawals)
from all Title IV eligible courses in a term, the student must be considered a withdrawal
for Title IV purposes. Cal Lutheran has up to 45 days from the last date of attendance
to return any unearned Title IV funds.
Cal Lutheran is not required to take attendance. If a student never actually began
attendance for the term, R2T4 regulations do not apply. If a student began attendance
but was not and could not have been disbursed Title IV aid prior to withdrawal, the
student is not considered to have been a Title IV recipient and the R2T4 regulations
do not apply. In these cases, Title IV funds would be handled in accordance with regulations
for returning funds for students who do not register or fail to begin attendance.
Federal regulations require that if a recipient of Title IV grant or loan funds withdraws
from Cal Lutheran after beginning attendance, the Office of Financial Aid must complete
a Return of Title IV fund (R2T4) calculation to determine the amount of Title IV assistance
earned. Federal aid is earned on a pro-rata basis determined by the amount of time
the student was enrolled in their courses for a given academic period.
For students who receive federal aid and withdraw from all courses before attending
at least 60 percent of the academic period, Cal Lutheran is required by federal regulations
to calculate the amount of federal aid the student earned and the amount of aid that
must be returned. The amount of the federal aid 'earned' and ‘unearned’ is determined
by the withdrawal date (last date of academic related activity).
If the amount disbursed to the student is greater than the amount the student earned,
the unearned portion must be returned to the federal program.
If the amount disbursed to the student is less than the amount the student earned
and for which the student is otherwise eligible, the student is eligible to receive
a post-withdrawal disbursement of the earned aid that was not received.
If the amount earned produces a credit to the students account (when the amount of
aid earned is greater than the amount that has disbursed to the student's account)
any grant funds will be applied to the account without notification. However, please
note that if earned Direct Loan or PLUS Loan funds are eligible to disburse under
these conditions the borrower will be notified via their Cal Lutheran student email
of their eligibility and the borrower must confirm in writing that they want the loan
to be disbursed. If no confirmation is received from the borrower within 14 business
days, the loan will be cancelled.
The unearned portion of federal aid will be returned to the federal government. Return
of Title IV financial aid programs must be made in the following order: Federal Direct
Unsubsidized Loan, Federal Direct Subsidized Loan, Federal Direct Plus Loan, Federal
Pell Grant, Federal Supplemental Educational Opportunity Grant, and Federal TEACH
Grant.
Cal Lutheran is required to return all unearned Title IV funds for which it is responsible
as soon as possible but no later than 45 days from the determination of a student’s
withdrawal. The return of unearned federal funds may result in a balance due to the
university. In addition, the Office of Financial Aid must notify the student or parent
of any post-withdrawal disbursement available to them within 30 days from the determination
of a student’s withdrawal.
Calculate the percentage of the term completed by the student:
Days Completed ÷ Days in Term = Percentage Completed* *If the calculated percentage exceeds 60 percent, then the student has earned the full
amount of Title IV aid for the term.
Apply the percentage completed to the student’s Title IV eligibility (as of the withdrawal
date):
Total Aid Eligible x Percentage Completed = Earned Aid
Determine the amount of unearned aid to be returned to the appropriate Title IV aid
program:
Total Disbursed Aid - Earned Aid = Unearned Aid
A student is considered to have officially withdrawn when the student began the official
withdrawal process or officially notified the school of their intent to withdraw.
The withdrawal date used for an official withdrawal is the date in which the student
starts the withdrawal process by notifying the school of their intent, not finishes
the process. This date is also used to determine the percentage used in the Return
of Title IV Funds calculation. Students are encouraged to submit a Separation form
to the Registrar’s Office to ensure a proper withdrawal.
The withdrawal date/last date of academic related activity is reported by the Registrar’s
Office to the Financial Aid Office and a R2T4 calculation is completed to determine
the amount of Title IV aid the student earned. If the amount of earned aid is less
than the disbursed amount, the student would be required to return Title IV aid. The
Financial Aid Office has 45 days from the date of determination to return any unearned
Title IV funds to the Department of Education. If the amount of earned aid is more
than the disbursed amount, as of the date the student withdrew, a Post-Withdrawal
Offer will be made.
The Financial Aid Office is required to automatically disburse any earned grant funds
in a Post-Withdrawal Offer within 45 days after the school determined the student
withdrew. Federal Loans require that a student respond to a Post-Withdrawal Offer
within 14 days to qualify for the post-withdrawal disbursement of loans. The school
has up to 180 days to disburse loans from the student's official withdrawal date.
Some students may be selected for verification by the Department of Education. Verification
documents need to be submitted and reviewed before any Title IV aid can disburse.
If a student selected for verification withdraws before their aid disburses, it would
be treated similar to a Post-Withdrawal Offer. An initial calculation is done using
the student's official withdrawal date and any non-need-based aid awarded at the time
the student withdrew. A Post-Withdrawal offer would be made only using non-need-based
types of Title IV aid. The student will have 120 days from the date the student withdrew
or 120 days from the end of the term, whichever is sooner, to submit verification
documents in order to be considered for any need-based aid. Once the documents are
reviewed, another Post-Withdrawal Offer will be sent including any need-based federal
loans (if previously originated) as long as the verification documents are submitted
within the given timeframe.
Federal grants would be disbursed automatically no later than 45 days from the date
of determination. The Pell Grant must be disbursed within 120 days from the official
withdrawal date.
Federal loans must be disbursed within 180 days from the date of determination. All
Post-Withdrawal disbursements are first applied to the student’s account and any remaining
funds will be refunded to the student within 14-calendar days.
Students who fail to officially withdraw before the end of the term and subsequently
receive all or a combination of F, UW, W, and/or NC grades for all enrolled courses
in a term are considered unofficially withdrawn. For unofficial withdrawals, Cal Lutheran
will use the midpoint of the term or a documented last date of academic related activity
as the withdrawal date or last date of attendance.
At the end of each term, the Financial Aid Office completes an assessment of all federal
financial aid recipients who receive no passing grades to determine if the non-passing
grade(s) were earned while attending or due to no longer attending class. Faculty
are required to input a last date of attendance or academic related activity when
issuing an F grade. The last date of attendance is used to determine the percentage
used in the Return of Title IV Funds calculation. An F grade is considered earned
if the last date of attendance/activity reported by instructor is within two weeks
of the end of term for 11- and 15-week terms, and one week from end of term for 8-week
term programs. An earned F grade in combination with UW/W/NC grades count as completed
and no R2T4 calculation is required. If the student attended at least 60%of the semester,
a return of funds is not necessary. The Financial Aid Office is required to determine
a student's last date of attendance within 30 days after the end of term.
Once the student’s last date of attendance is determined, the Financial Aid Office
has another 30 days to complete the Return of Title IV funds calculation. The calculation
will determine the amount of Title IV aid the student earned in the term. If the amount
of aid earned is less than the disbursed amount, the student would be required to
return unearned Title IV aid. The Financial Aid Office has 45 days from the date of
determination to return any unearned Title IV funds.
If the amount of earned aid is more than the disbursed amount, as of the date the
student withdrew, a Post-Withdrawal Offer will be made. Cal Lutheran is required to
automatically disburse any earned grant funds in a Post-Withdrawal Offer no later
than 45 days from the date of determination. Federal Loans require a student respond
to a Post-Withdrawal Offer within 14 days to qualify for the post-withdrawal disbursement
of loans. The school has 180 days to disburse loans from the date the school determines
the student withdrew. All Post-Withdrawal disbursements are first applied to the student’s
account and any remaining funds will be refunded to the student within 14-calendar
days.
Students who stopped attending may be required to repay a portion of their Title IV
aid for that term based on their last date of attendance. Aid may be adjusted if it
is determined that a student never began attendance in some or all of their classes.
This assessment must be completed within 30 days of the end of the term.
Some students may be selected for verification by the Department of Education. Verification
documents need to be submitted and reviewed before any Title IV aid can disburse.
If a student has not submitted their verification documents before the end of the
term, it would be treated similar to a Post-Withdrawal Offer. An initial calculation
is done using the student's official withdrawal date and any non-need-based aid awarded
at the time the student withdrew. A Post-Withdrawal offer would be made only using
non-need-based types of Title IV aid. The student will have 60 days to submit verification
documents in order to be considered for any need-based aid. Once the documents are
reviewed, another Post-Withdrawal Offer will be sent including any need-based federal
loans (if previously originated) as long as the verification documents are submitted
within the given timeframe. Federal grants would be disbursed automatically. The
Pell Grant must be disbursed within 120 days from the last date of attendance, not
to extend beyond the deadline date established by a Federal Register notice. Federal
loans must be disbursed within 180 days from the last days date of attendance, not
to extend beyond the deadline date established by a Federal Register notice).
Whether a student officially or unofficially withdraw from the university, regulations
require that Cal Lutheran notify students of their Exit Counseling requirements any
time a student borrowed federal loans at Cal Lutheran. This must be sent to the student
within 30 days after the school has determined the student is no longer enrolled.
The Financial Aid Office sends a Direct Loan Exit Counseling Email to the students
within 30-days of withdrawal providing exit counseling information, links to the Federal
Student Aid system (studentaid.gov) and instructions to access their most recent loan information.
Once Cal Lutheran determines that a student has withdrawn, the student is no longer
considered to be enrolled and in attendance.
Therefore, the student is no longer eligible for in-school status or an in-school
deferment on their federal loans and the school must report the student as withdrawn
in the National Student Loan Data System (NSLDS) Enrollment Reporting.
In addition, a work-study employee is no longer eligible to receive payment from Federal
Work-Study funds effective immediately after withdrawing.
Non-Title IV aid programs are not part of the Return of Title IV aid calculation.
However, they may be subject to proration (reduction) in cases of withdrawal based
on institutional policy.
Examples of Non-Title IV programs include institutional scholarships and grants, State
aid programs (i.e. Cal Grant, etc), and Private Alternative loans.
Institutional aid (merit and need-based scholarships/grants) is prorated based on
the percentage of tuition/fee charges.
Institutional Housing Grants, smaller Endowed/Restricted Scholarships and Cal Grants
are frozen at census and are not prorated (reduced) unless they exceed prorated charges.