Return of Title IV Funds

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The following procedures apply to federal Title IV financial aid recipients. Title IV aid is awarded and disbursed to students in anticipation of students’ successful completion of their courses and progression toward graduation. The U.S. Department of Education regulates the management of these funds and in some cases, a student who receives Title IV financial aid but does not complete their coursework is not considered to have “earned” the Title IV aid they received.

  • Withdrawal Date

    When a student officially withdraws from all of their courses, audits all of their courses, receives unsatisfactory grades in all of their courses, and/or otherwise fails to attend the full period of enrollment, CWI is required to determine the earned and unearned portions of Title IV aid the student was scheduled to receive.

    The earned and unearned portions of Title IV aid are determined by the date a student stops attending classes. Up through the 60% point in each period of enrollment, a prorated schedule is used to determine the amount of Title IV funds the student has earned at the time of withdrawal. After the 60% point in the period of enrollment, a student has earned 100% of the Title IV funds he or she was scheduled to receive during the period.

    For a student who officially withdraws at any time through the 60% point of a period of enrollment, the official withdrawal date is the earlier of:

    • Date the student begins the official withdrawal process (submits a signed complete withdrawal form), OR
    • Date the student otherwise provides official notification of intent to withdraw.

    For a student who doesn’t officially withdraw (does not complete the official withdrawal process but receives unsatisfactory grades in all their courses), the withdrawal date is entered as either:

    • Date that CWI determines is related to circumstance that was beyond the student’s control, if withdrawal is due to said circumstance.
    • Midpoint of the enrollment period or the last date the student participated in an academically related activity (as reported by his/her instructors) whichever is later, for all other students who unofficially withdraw.
  • Withdrawal Calculations

    When a student is determined to have withdrawn, either officially or unofficially, CWI will use federal regulatory rules to make the following determinations and complete the following activities:

    • Determine the amount of the student’s institutional charges.
    • Determine the Title IV aid disbursed to the student.
    • Determine the Title IV aid that could have been disbursed to the student (if any).
    • Determine the student’s official withdrawal date.
    • Calculate the amount of the student’s earned and unearned Title IV aid. o Calculate the amount of Title IV aid the College must return.
    • Calculate the amount of Title IV aid the Student must return. o Notify the student of the determinations and calculated values used in the R2T4 calculation.
    • Notify the student of the resulting balance owed to the College and/or the U.S. Department of Education.

    When returning Title IV funds to the U.S. Department of Education, CWI returns them in a specific order per federal regulations.

    1. Unsubsidized Direct Loans
    2. Subsidized Direct Loans
    3. Parent PLUS Loans
    4. Pell Grant
    5. Supplemental Educational Opportunity Grant (SEOG)
    6. Iraq/Afghanistan Service Grant

    Important Information

    • Amounts required to be returned to the U.S. Department of Education by CWI become debts immediately due and payable to CWI upon completion of the R2T4 calculation and will be billed to the student. The student MUST make prompt payment or payment arrangements to satisfy the debt owed to CWI. CWI reserves the right to refer the debt to a collection agency for servicing.
    • Amounts returned by CWI to the U.S. Department of Education on the student’s behalf and owed to CWI must be paid directly to any of the CWI One Stop Student Services Centers. Do not send payments to any other department or agency.
    • In the event that a student owes a Title IV repayment beyond the amounts returned by CWI, the student MUST make full payment or satisfactory payment arrangements within 45 days from the date CWI sends the R2T4 notification. Students who fail to make full payment or payment arrangements within 45 days will have the debt submitted to the U.S. Department of Education for collection.

    Post-Withdrawal Disbursements

    • If the students Title IV aid that has been earned is greater than what was disbursed to the student by the date the institution determined that the student had withdrawn, the difference must be disbursed accordingly and considered a post-withdrawal disbursement.
    • Federal loan post-withdrawal disbursements require the student/parent to accept the loans to receive the post-withdrawal disbursement. The letter of acceptance will be sent to the student’s assigned CWI email or the parent’s email provided on the Parent PLUS Loan application. The acceptance will need to be returned to the Financial Aid office. If no action is taken, the funds will be canceled.

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