Refund/Repayment of Financial Aid Due to Discontinuance of Study
When a student has received Title IV federal funds (such as: Subsidized/Unsubsidized Stafford loans, Perkins Loan, PLUS Loan, PELL grant, SEOG grant, TEACH grant) and discontinues study prior to the completion of the semester for which the Title IV funds were disbursed, a Title IV repayment calculation must be completed.
A student’s charges will be reduced based on the SUNY refund policy. The purpose of the repayment calculation is to determine the amount of Title IV federal aid the student is eligible for and insure that the student has not been over awarded federal financial aid due to the student’s withdrawal. The initial step in the calculation is to identify all of the Title IV federal aid that the student was awarded in the semester that the student withdrew. If a student is subject to the 30-day delayed disbursement, as a first time borrower, and withdraws during the first 30 days, the student is not eligible for the Stafford Loan, and it will not be included in the calculation.
The next step is to determine the number of days the student was enrolled for the semester and divide that by the total number of days in the semester to calculate the percentage of Title IV federal aid earned by the student. If this percentage is greater than 60 percent, the student is eligible for 100 percent of their Title IV federal funds. (Note: Any break of five or more consecutive days is excluded from the calculation.) If the percentage of Title IV federal aid earned is less than or equal to 60 percent, the percentage is then multiplied by the amount of Title IV federal aid the student has been awarded for the semester. This determines the amount of Title IV federal aid that the student is eligible for and can be applied toward their charges for the semester they withdrew.
A comparison is done between the amount of Title IV aid that the student is eligible for and the amount that has already been disbursed into the account. If the disbursed amount is less than the eligible amount, any additional funds up to the eligible amount may be disbursed to the student’s account and then to the student if any excess funds are available. If loan proceeds are to be utilized as a late disbursement, the student (or parent for a PLUS Loan) will be notified. If the disbursed amount is greater than the eligible amount, the student has been over awarded due to their discontinuance of study. When a student has been over awarded, the amount of earned aid is subtracted from the amount of disbursed aid to determine the amount that the student is not eligible for. Any Title IV federal aid that the student is not eligible for must be returned to the appropriate federal program. Title IV federal aid is returned in the following order: Unsubsidized Stafford Loan, Subsidized Stafford Loan, Perkins Loan, PLUS Loan, PELL grant, Federal SEOG grant, TEACH grant and other Title IV program aid excluding Federal Work-Study.
For additional information regarding the repayment of Title IV federal aid, persons should contact the Student Accounts Office at (716) 673-3236, E148 Thompson Hall, or email student.accounts@fredonia.edu.