Pursuant to the Higher Education Amendment of 1998, Public Law 105-244; funds paid toward a student’s education are earned based upon the period of time the student remains enrolled during the semester.  Unearned Title IV funds, other than federal work-study, must be returned.  Unearned aid is the amount of disbursed Title IV aid that exceeds the amount of Title IV aid earned prior to withdrawal.

Truett McConnell University will determine the date of withdrawal.  If the student does not notify the university of the intent to withdraw, the last date of attendance, as documented by the university, will be used as the withdrawal date.  If the last date of attendance cannot be determined by the institution, the midpoint of the payment period for which student financial aid program assistance was disbursed will be used.  If Truett McConnell University determines that a student did not begin the withdrawal process or otherwise notify the university of the intent to withdraw due to illness, accident, grievous personal loss, or other circumstances beyond the student’s control, Truett McConnell University will determine the appropriate withdrawal date.

To determine how much financial aid was disbursed, Truett McConnell University will consider only the aid that is disbursed prior to becoming aware of the withdrawal.  If earned aid exceeds disbursed aid; additional funds may be disbursed utilizing late disbursement procedures.  Additional disbursements are precluded if the amount of earned aid is less than the total Title IV aid that was disbursed prior to the date of the university’s determination that the student withdrew.  Institutional costs are not used to determine the amount of Title IV funds a withdrawn student is entitled.  Aid is disbursable if the student could have received it at the point of withdrawal.  Total disbursable aid includes aid that was disbursed and aid that could have been (but was not) disbursed as of the student’s withdrawal date.

During the first 60% of the period, a student earns Title IV funds in direct proportion to the length of time he or she remains enrolled.  That is, the percentage of time during the period that the student remained enrolled is the percentage of disbursable aid for that period that the student earned.

For example:

  • Multiply the % of the payment period or period of enrollment completed (or 100% once the student completes > 60%) X the federal aid that was disbursed and could have been disbursed. This is the earned amount.
  • Subtract the earned amount from the aid disbursed as of the date of the institution’s determination that the student withdrew.
  • TMU uses the standard term based program as the payment period.
    1. Calendar days completed less scheduled breaks of 5 consecutive days or more.
    2. Calendar days in the period scheduled, less scheduled breaks of 5 consecutive days or more.
  • Truett McConnell University returns the lesser of:
    1. Amount disbursed minus amount earned
      (or)
    2. Institutional charges times the percentage not earned
  • Student Responsibility:Total amount of unearned Title IV aid
    – amount institution is required to return
    = Amount for which the student is responsible.Student returns his or her share to:

    • Title IV loan programs in accordance with the terms of the loan.
    • Title IV grant programs as an over payment (only up to 50% of the amount of the over payment).
  • Student remains Title IV eligible generally for 45 days, if the student:
    1. repays the over payment in full to the institution
    2. makes repayment arrangements satisfactory to the institution, or
    3. signs a repayment agreement with the Secretary of Education, which will include terms that permit continued eligibility while in repayment.

A student who remains enrolled beyond the 60% point of the semester earns all aid for the semester.  The percentage of the period that the student remained enrolled is derived by dividing the number of days the student attended by the number of days in the period.  Calendar days are used, but breaks of at least 5 days are excluded from both the numerator and denominator.

Funds will be returned in the following order:

  • Unsubsidized Federal Stafford loans
  • Subsidized Federal Stafford loans
  • Federal PLUS loans
  • Federal Pell Grants for the payment period for which a return of funds is required
  • Federal Supplemental Educational Opportunity Grants
  • Other assistance under this Title for which a return of funds is required

The institution will normally use the R2T4 calculation module in the PowerFaids software to process the R2T4 calculations.  If the R2T4 process in the PowerFaids software in unavailable, the institution will use the R2T4 calculation module located on the FAA Access to CPS Online website.