VIRGINIA UNION UNIVERSITY
FEDERAL RETURN OF TITLE IV FUNDS
WITHDRAWAL FROM SCHOOL REFUND POLICY

Students who leave the University prior to the end of the semester should follow the University guidelines for withdrawing from the University. An Official Withdrawal Form must be obtained from the Office of Student Affairs. The Withdrawal Form must be completed by respective offices listed on the form and returned to the office of Student Affairs in order for the student to be considered officially withdrawn. Students who stop attending all of their classes but fail to complete the withdrawal process are considered as unofficially withdrawn. The U.S. Department of Education has established guidelines for institutions to follow for students who withdraw (officially or unofficially). The policy listed below applies to students who officially and unofficially withdraw from the University.

Federal student aid recipients who begin attending classes during a semester, who cease attending or performing activities prior to the end of the semester, and never complete an Official Withdrawal Form, are considered by the federal government to have Unofficially Withdrawn. The University will review the grades of all students at the end of each semester. If the students have all non-passing grades, the academic area will be contacted to determine the date of the last academic activity. The Unofficial Withdrawal date for those students will be the date of the latest academic activity.

If a federal financial aid recipient withdraws (officially or unofficially) after attending only the first day of class, the University will return and the financial aid recipient will be required to repay a prorated portion of funds received based upon Federal Return of Title IV Funds. The Student Financial Aid Office is required to calculate the amount of the Federal Title IV financial aid that the students have earned and the amount that is unearned. The unearned portion of Title IV financial aid must be returned to the appropriate financial aid programs according to federal and institutional guidelines.

Students who withdraw on or before the 60% point of the semester will have a percentage of their financial aid calculated as earned and unearned on a pro-rata basis. If a student is enrolled beyond the 60% of the semester, all financial aid is considered earned.

Example: A student withdraws on the 25th day of the semester and there are 116 days in the semester, the earned and unearned financial aid would be calculated as follows:

(This excludes scheduled breaks of 5 days or more)

If the University records show that a federal student aid recipient never attended a class and/or never performed an academically related activity for a semester, that recipient never established eligibility for any aid funds that may have been disbursed for that semester or term. Any student aid recipient who withdraws or drops all classes prior to the first day of class for a semester did not establish eligibility for any aid funds that may have been disbursed for that semester or term. In either case, the student aid recipient must repay the entire amount of aid disbursed for that semester or term.

If a student did not receive any federal student aid but did receive other types of aid and later officially withdraws the refund or repayments will be based upon the University’s refund policy.

Repayment of Unearned Amount is as follows:

The University will return to the appropriate financial aid program(s) the lesser of:

• total amount of unearned aid or
• institutional charges (tuition, fees, room and board) multiplied by unearned percent

Student will return:

• remaining balance of unearned aid to the appropriate program(s) plus any amount the school returned that exceeds the amount of institutional charges that are credited back to the withdrawing student based upon the Institutional Refund Policy calculation.

The unearned amount of aid must be returned as follows:

1. Subsidized and Unsubsidized Federal Stafford Loans
2. Subsidized and Unsubsidized Direct Loans
3. Perkins Loans
4. FFEL/Direct PLUS (Graduate Student) Loans*
5. FFEL/Direct PLUS (Parent) Loans
6. Federal Pell Grant
7. FSEOG
8. Other Title IV assistance, such as the LEAP Grant
9. Academic Competitiveness Grant
10. National SMART Grant
    

If the student is required to repay funds through the federal grant program, the student will be required to return no more than 50% of the federal grant amount that was originally received. If a balance is due to the University, a bill will be sent by the Office of Student Accounts to the address that is on file at the University.

With the exception of any amount owed to the University, students and/or parents who are required to return a portion of all of their loan proceeds are allowed to repay the unearned amount according to the terms of the loan.

Students who officially or unofficially withdraw from the University must complete the Exit Counseling. Exit Counseling can be completed online at http://www.dlssonline.com/exitcounseling/ecec-main.asp.

POST-WITHDRAWAL DISBURSEMENTS

A post withdrawal disbursement occurs when a student has earned aid that has not been disbursed to his account at the time of withdrawal.

Once it has been determined that a student is due a post-withdrawal disbursement, the student/parent will be notified. The process will be:

1. Inform student that he/she is entitled to a post withdrawal disbursement of Federal Title IV Aid that was earned.
2. A written notification will be sent to student (or parent) providing the opportunity to cancel all/part of the loan for post withdrawal disbursements of loan funds (Perkins, Stafford Direct Loan, FFEL or Plus) to the student’s account. This notice will be sent out immediately but no later than 30 days of disbursement of loan funds.
3. Student/parent will be sent written notification of their eligibility for post-withdrawal disbursement in excess of outstanding current educationally related charges. This notification will be sent immediately.