Refund and Repayment Policy for Financial Aid Recipients
Federal regulations require Wytheville Community College to have a written policy for the refund and repayment of federal aid received by students who withdraw during a term for which payment has been received. These policies are effective only if the student completely terminates enrollment (i.e., cancels his/her registration, withdraws, or is dismissed) or stops attending classes before completing more than 60 percent of the enrollment period.
Refund Policy
The amount of a refund of fees for students who withdraw will be calculated as outlined in the WCC Student Handbook.
Repayment Policy
The Financial Aid Office is required by federal statute to determine how much financial aid was earned by students who withdraw, drop out, are dismissed, or take a leave of absence prior to completing 60% of a payment period or term.
For a student who withdraws after the 60% point-in-time, there are no unearned funds. However, a school must still complete a Return calculation in order to determine whether the student is eligible for a post-withdrawal disbursement.
The calculation 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 = scheduled hours as of the withdrawal date divided by total hours scheduled in the payment period
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. Keep in mind that when Title IV funds are returned, the student borrower may owe a debit balance to the institution.
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.
Refunds are allocated in the following order:
- Unsubsidized Federal Stafford Loans
- Subsidized Federal Stafford Loans
- Unsubsidized Direct Stafford Loans (other than PLUS loans)
- Subsidized Direct Stafford Loans
- Federal Perkins Loans
- Federal Parent (PLUS) Loans
- Direct PLUS Loans
- Federal Pell Grants for which a Return of funds is required
- Academic Competitiveness Grant
- National SMART Grant
- Federal Supplemental Opportunity Grants for which a Return of funds is required Other assistance under this Title for which a Return of funds is required (e.g., LEAP)