Return of Title IV Funds Information
What happens if I withdraw from UMUC?
A student receiving federal student financial aid who withdraws from UMUC within the first 60 percent of the semester will receive an adjustment to their financial aid. Since these federal funds are awarded based on attending the entire term, we must recalculate your award(s) based on the actual number of days you attended. The calculation will determine if you received funds for which you are NOT eligible or if you are eligible for a post withdrawal disbursement.
UMUC’s Financial Aid Office:
- Determines the number of calendar days the student attended classes, (Calendar day does not include scheduled breaks of at least five consecutive days or more.)
- Calculates the percentage of Title IV Aid Earned and Unearned,
- Calculates the amount of institutional charges,
- Determines the amount that must be returned to each Title IV program,
- Calculates the student’s and school’s responsibility to the grant and loan programs,
- Returns funds to the programs according to regulatory requirements,
- Collects grant overpayment, or follows the overpayment procedures.
What happens next?
Students cannot earn all of their financial aid unless they attend and participate in class for at least 60% of the term. This calculation counts all calendar days, including the first day of the term, last scheduled day of the exams, weekends and holidays (excludes scheduled breaks of five or more days OR days the student was on an approved leave of absence). The chart below summarizes the 60 percent dates for each type and current term. Students must stay in school through the dates below to avoid possible repayment of unearned financial aid.
|
Spring 2011 Undergraduate Term Dates |
||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Minimum Requirements |
Type |
Start Date |
End Date |
60% Point |
|
You must attend and participate in class through these dates to avoid having to repay any financial aid. |
Online Session 1 |
1/18/2011 |
4/10/2011 |
3/3/2011 |
|
Online Session 2 |
1/31/2011 |
5/1/2011 |
3/21/2011 |
|
|
Online Session 3 |
2/13/2011 |
5/12/2011 |
4/1/2011 |
|
|
Online Session 4 |
3/3/2011 |
5/12/2011 |
4/9/2011 |
|
|
Online Session 5 |
3/3/2011 |
4/27/2011 |
3/31/2011 |
|
|
Onsite Standard |
1/24/2011 |
5/7/2011 |
3/22/2011 |
|
|
Onsite Session 1 |
1/24/2011 |
3/13/2011 |
2/16/2011 |
|
|
Onsite Session 2 |
3/4/2011 |
5/7/2011 |
4/10/2011 |
|
|
Spring 2011 Graduate Term Dates |
||||
|
Minimum Requirements |
Type |
Start Date |
End Date |
60% Point |
|
You must attend and participate in class through these dates to avoid having to repay any financial aid. |
Online Session 1 |
1/27/2011 |
4/24/2011 |
3/15/2011 |
|
Online Session 2 |
2/16/2011 |
5/10/2011 |
4/1/2011 |
|
|
Onsite Standard |
1/27/2011 |
4/24/2011 |
3/15/2011 |
|
|
MBA 1 |
1/3/2011 |
5/15/2011 |
3/18/2011 |
|
|
MBA 2 |
4/4/2011 |
6/12/2011 |
5/10/2011 |
|
|
Executive MBA 1 |
1/3/2011 |
3/15/2011 |
2/9/2011 |
|
|
Executive MBA 2 |
4/4/2011 |
6/12/2011 |
5/10/2011 |
|
|
Doctoral |
1/17/2011 |
4/17/2011 |
3/7/2011 |
|
What is the recalculation process?
A student earns his or her financial aid award in proportion to the number of days in the term completed prior to the student's complete withdrawal. The percentage of enrollment time completed at UMUC determines the percentage of "earned" aid. For example, if a student attends through the first 25 days of a 100-day term, the percentage of earned aid is 25%. The remaining 75% of the aid received is "unearned", and must be returned to their respective federal financial aid program(s)
When a student completely withdraws from UMUC prior to completing 60% of any given term, a portion of the Title IV financial aid grant and loan funds received (excluding Federal Work-Study) is considered to be an overpayment, and must be returned to their respective federal financial aid programs.
What is the difference between earned and unearned Title IV funds?
Title IV Funds Earned – The student earns Title IV funds in proportion to the percentage of time officially enrolled in the semester (i.e. if the student was enrolled 25% of the period, he or she will be eligible for 25% of the Title IV aid). If the aid earned is more than the amount that was disbursed, the student will be offered a post withdrawal disbursement. The Financial Aid Office will notify the student by e-mail, within 30 days of determination of withdrawal, the type and amount of Title IV funds available. The student must respond to the notification within 14 days in order for the funds to be disbursed.
Title IV Funds Unearned – Unearned funds must be returned to the federal programs from which they originated (e.g., if the student in the above example is eligible for 25% of the Title IV aid, then the unearned funds will be 75% of the Title IV aid received). The school is responsible for returning unearned Title IV aid up to an amount that is equal to the total institutional charges for the payment period times the percentage of the Title IV aid unearned. The student is responsible for returning the balance of unearned Title IV aid.
What are the timelines for Return of Title IV funds?
UMUC must determine the amount that the student has earned and the amount of federal financial aid that must be returned to the Department of Education within 30 days. If the student must return any federal financial aid funds received, they will be notified within 30 days that we determine the student withdrew. The student then has 45 days to repay UMUC who will then forward the funds to the Department of Education. If the student does not repay the aid to UMUC with the time-line, UMUC will notify the Department of Education and the student will then be required to repay the funds to them.
The institutional charges (tuition and fees) incurred by the student
are considered to be paid by Title IV funds for the purpose of the
formula, even if the institutional charges were directly paid by a
source other than Title IV funds.
Students can repay the student portion of federal loans under the terms
and conditions of the master promissory note (MPN) for the loan.
However, the unearned portion of the loans that UMUC must return is
posted as a charge to the student account and must be repaid. If the
student owes unearned Title IV funds from a federal loan, the money is repaid to the lender (Direct Lending).
In what order is Return of Title IV Funds returned?
When institutions have to return unearned Title IV funds from institutional charges, the money is returned to programs in the following order:
- Unsubsidized Direct Stafford Loans
- Subsidized Direct Stafford Loans
- Federal Perkins Loans
- Federal Direct PLUS Loans
- Federal Pell Grant
- Academic Competitiveness Grant (ACG)
- National SMART Grant
- Federal Supplemental Opportunity Grant (SEOG)
Federal Work-Study earnings are not affected by Title IV regulations concerning the return of unearned federal financial aid.
How do I withdraw from my courses at UMUC?
Now that you understand that you may owe a portion of the financial aid you received back to the federal government and/or UMUC you should refer to the Undergraduate or Graduate catalog to learn the procedures to withdraw. Your academic advisor can assist you with the process and protocol for specific course withdrawal and/or complete withdrawal from all courses. Please remember, the institutional refund policy is different than the financial aid return of title IV process.
