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Withdrawal Policy
Withdrawal Policy And Return to Title IV Refund Policy
The Office of Financial Assistance encourages you to read this policy carefully. If you are thinking about withdrawing from all classes prior to completing the semester, please contact the Office of Financial Assistance to see how your withdrawal will affect your financial aid and/or student account balance.
Withdrawal or Lack of Attendance
Students receiving Title IV federal funding who withdraw, drop out, fail all classes, or take a leave of absence may be required to return all or a portion of their financial assistance awards.聽 Title IV funding refers to federal aid such as Pell grants, SEOG grants, Perkins loans, Stafford loans (both subsidized and unsubsidized), and PLUS loans.聽 Federal regulations require that students who withdraw from Meredith or stop attending classes return the unearned portions of their Title IV aid to the federal government.聽 The amount of aid that must be returned is based on the percent of the semester a student has completed.聽 By attending class, students 鈥渆arn鈥� a portion of the financial assistance that has been disbursed to their student accounts.聽 At the time a student withdraws or ceases to attend Meredith, a return to Title IV refund calculation will be done in order to determine the amount of financial assistance a student has earned and, if necessary, what amount must be returned to the federal government.
General Rule
If a student withdraws before completing sixty percent (60%) of聽a period of聽enrollment (i.e. fall term, spring term), her/his Title IV aid聽will聽require an adjustment, which may have an impact on the student鈥檚 account.
If a student withdraws after completing more than sixty percent (60%) of聽a period of聽enrollment (i.e. fall term, spring term), all federal aid is considered to be earned by the student and no financial assistance refund will be required.
The Process
Upon receipt of the official withdrawal notification from the Office of the Registrar, the Office of Financial Assistance will perform the return to Title IV refund calculation.聽 The following section will be used to determine the date of student withdrawal.
Determining Withdrawal Date
A student鈥檚 withdrawal date is determined based upon one of the following:
- The date the student completed the official withdrawal form
- The date the student ceased to attend class, if the student did not complete an official withdrawal form. If no documentation can be produced that supports the student鈥檚 last date of academically related activity, the withdrawal date will be assessed as the midpoint of the term
Once the withdrawal date is determined, a Title IV refund calculation will be performed. All unearned Title IV aid funds will be returned to their respective programs within 45 days of the determined date of withdrawal. Funds will be returned in the following order:
- Unsubsidized Federal Direct Student Loan
- Subsidized Federal Direct Student Loan
- Federal Perkins Loans
- Federal Direct Graduate PLUS Loan
- Federal Direct Parent (PLUS) Loans
- Federal Pell Grant
- Federal Supplemental Opportunity Grant
- Other Title IV aid
Only aid that is final and disbursed is eligible to be included in the total Title IV funds used. For instance, if a student fails to sign a promissory note and her/his Stafford loan has not yet been disbursed, the student may no longer be eligible for those funds.
Post-withdrawal Disbursement
Post-withdrawal disbursements can be used to credit outstanding charges on a student鈥檚 account in the rare cases when federal funds were not yet applied. If the amount disbursed to the student is less than the amount the student earned, the amount may be considered a post-withdrawal disbursement. 糖心Vlog has 30 days from the student鈥檚 withdrawal date to offer any available post-withdrawal disbursements to the student. The student must accept or decline some or all of the offered disbursements within 14 days of the date that the College sends notification of post-withdrawal disbursement eligibility. If the student does not respond to the College notice within the 14-day period, no portion of the post-withdrawal disbursement will be credited to the student鈥檚 account. 糖心Vlog is required to contact a withdrawn student prior to making a post-withdrawal disbursement of loan funds and explain to the student (or the parent of the student in case of a parent PLUS loan) her obligation to repay the funds if the funds are disbursed.
The student will be notified by mail that a Title IV refund calculation was performed. A copy of any adjustments on the student鈥檚 account will accompany the notification. If there is any outstanding balance on the student鈥檚 account, the student is responsible for making payment arrangements with the Office of Accounting.
A student who receives grades of 鈥淔鈥� in all classes at the end of the semester may be subject to the Return to Title IV policy dependent on attendance. Professors will be contacted to verify the last date of attendance in class, and the withdrawal calculation will be based on the professor鈥檚 certification of the last day the student attended the course or was involved in an academically related activity. Note: If a student withdraws before the census date (the 10th class day after first day of class), the student will lose eligibility for all North Carolina state aid.
Contact Information
1st Floor, Johnson Hall
1-800-MEREDITH
(919) 760-8565
Fax: (919) 760-2373
finaid@meredith.edu
