Return of Title IV Funds Policy
According to the Federal Student Aid Handbook, “Title IV funds are 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 Title IV funds that the student was originally scheduled to receive.
If a recipient of Title IV grant or loan funds withdraws from a school after beginning attendance, the amount of Title IV grant or loan assistance earned by the student must be determined. If the amount disbursed to the student is greater than the amount the student earned, unearned funds must be returned. If the amount disbursed to the student is less than the amount the student earned, and for which the student is otherwise eligible, he or she is eligible to receive a post-withdrawal disbursement of the earned aid that was not received.”
Effective fall 2008, BPCC will use the “Return of Title IV Funds Policy” in accordance with the 2008 Reauthorization of the Higher Education Act of 1965, as amended. The law defines the amount of Title IV grants and loans that the student has earned the right to use. The amount a student has earned is directly related to the length of time he or she has maintained attendance during the semester. The law requires that if a recipient of Title IV assistance withdraws/resigns from an institution before completing more than 60% of the semester in which the recipient began attendance, the institution must calculate the percentage and amount of Title IV assistance the student earned. Unearned Title IV funds must be returned to the Title IV programs by the school and/or the student.
Students who wish to resign from the College should follow Admissions resignation procedures found in the BPCC Catalog. An electronic version of the Catalog is located online.
For official withdrawals, the Return of Title IV funds calculation must be performed and the student notified of any overpayment within 30 days of the date the institution determined the student withdrew. In many cases, students will owe money to the federal aid program(s) and to BPCC. (See “Return of Title IV Funds Formula in Detail” below for information regarding deadlines and repayment procedures)
For the purposes of this policy, the words “withdrawals, withdraw” and “resignations, resign” may be used interchangeably.
Unofficial Withdrawals/Resignations
Students receiving Title IV aid who stop attending all classes and receive all F’s will be treated as unofficial withdrawals. Students who are suspended from all courses based on unexcused absences will be treated as unofficial withdrawals. For unofficial withdrawals, the withdrawal date is defined as either the midpoint of the semester or the last documented date of attendance at an academically-related activity, as defined by Federal Regulations.
An institution must determine the withdrawal date for a Title IV recipient who unofficially withdraws no later than 30 days after the end of the semester in which the student unofficially withdrew or the end of the academic year in which the student unofficially withdrew, whichever is earlier.
Number of Days in Semester
The percentage of time the student completed for the semester determines the “earned percentage.” The earned percentage is based on calendar days in the semester, including weekends. Only scheduled breaks of at least 5 days will be excluded. The length of the break is determined by counting from the first day of the break up to the next day on which classes are offered. The weekends preceding and following the break are counted as part of the break, unless Saturday classes are scheduled. If Saturday classes are scheduled in the weekend preceding the break, only the Sunday would be counted as part of the break. If Saturday classes are scheduled in the weekend following the break, neither Saturday nor Sunday is counted as part of the break.
Attendance = Participation
Attendance requires the student to participate in academic related activities (exams, discussion boards, assignments, etc. Logging into an online class without participating in an assigned activity is not considered as an “academic related activity”. Attending a face-to-face class without participating in an assigned activity is not considered as an “academic related activity”.