Withdrawal/Return of Title IV Funds Policy and Procedure

Withdrawal = Not completing all the days in the payment period that the student scheduled to complete

A full-time, on-campus student wishing to withdraw from the university must contact Student Support Services (studentsupport@bradley.edu, 309-677-3910) to initiate the withdrawal process. The Official Student Withdrawal Form will be completed by Student Support Services and distributed to the following offices: Office of the Bursar, Office of the Registrar, and Office of Financial Assistance.

A part-time, on-campus student wishing to withdraw from the university must drop all of their courses through the mybradley.bradley.edu portal to initiate the withdrawal process. Course drops made through this portal are processed by the Office of the Registrar and are then reviewed by the Office of Financial Assistance for possible official part-time withdrawals.

A distance education student wishing to withdraw from the university must drop all of their courses through the myonline.bradley.edu portal to initiate the withdrawal process. When a distance education student drops a course through the myonline.bradley.edu portal, the course drop is processed by the Office of the Registrar and an automated email is sent to the Office of the Bursar and the Office of Financial Assistance notifying both offices of the withdrawal.

Federal Financial Assistance

When a student notifies Student Support Services of their intent to withdraw from all courses during a semester, the date of that notification is the official date of withdrawal from the university. When a part-time or distance education student drops all of their courses for a semester, the date of the last course drop is the official date of withdrawal from the university. If the university becomes aware of a student who ceased attendance during a semester for which they enrolled, but did not officially withdraw (referred to as an unofficial withdrawal), the midpoint of the term or the last date of academic activity as provided by the student’s professor(s) will be the official date of withdrawal from the university.

Academic activity is reviewed at the end of each payment period for all students with federal aid who fail to earn any passing grades during the payment period. These students are treated as unofficial withdrawals. Incomplete course designations do not count as passing grades and must be resolved with a passing grade within 45 days of the university’s review in order to avoid being permanently processed as an unofficial withdrawal. Bradley University must process any unofficial withdrawals (including those with incomplete designations) within 30 days of the review, but may reverse the withdrawal status up to 45 days from the review if an incomplete grade is resolved at a later time.

Federal funding is initially awarded and disbursed based on enrollment for the entire period of enrollment. If a student withdraws before completing the term, the student may no longer be eligible for the full amount of Title IV aid. The Office of Financial Assistance is federally mandated to perform a calculation called “Return of Title IV Aid” to determine the percentage of federal aid a student has “earned,” unless the student meets an exemption requirement for the Return of Title IV Aid calculation. Possible exemptions from the Return of Title IV Aid calculation include:

• All requirements for graduation from the student’s program are completed before completing all of the days that the student was originally scheduled to complete for the payment period.
• A module or combination of modules are successfully completed for the semester that include 49% or more of the countable days in the payment period. Such modules could include: Fall 1, Fall 2, January Interim, January Study Abroad, Spring 1, Spring 2, May Interim, Summer Study Abroad, Summer 1, and Summer 2.
• Coursework applicable to the student’s Title IV-eligible program is completed that is equal to or greater than the coursework required for half-time enrollment for the payment period (6 credit hours for undergraduate students, 4 credit hours for graduate students).
• The student has confirmed, in writing, their plans of future attendance for a Title IV-eligible course in a module contained within the payment period that begins within 45 calendar days after the end of the module the student ceased attending/dropped a course from. Please note that if the student does not actually attend the later module, they will be considered a withdrawal as of the original date they ceased attendance or dropped their course(s).

The percentage of earned federal aid is calculated by dividing the total number of calendar days completed by the total number of calendar days in the semester or modules in which the student was enrolled (less any scheduled breaks of five consecutive days or longer).

If a student withdraws after 60% of the period of enrollment is complete, the student is considered to have earned 100% of their Title IV aid. No changes to federal funding will take place.

If the student has withdrawn prior to completing 60% of the period of enrollment, the student has not earned the full semester amount of Title IV funding initially awarded. When a student has received more Title IV aid than they have earned, the university has a responsibility to return the amount of aid that is required by the results of the Return of Title IV Aid calculation. In most cases, the student will be eligible to keep only the portion of aid that they have earned according to the calculation and the school will return the entirety of the unearned aid. However, a student may occasionally be eligible to retain a portion of aid that is considered “unearned aid” dependent on the amount of aid that the institution is required to return on behalf of the student compared to the amount of aid earned. If the student is required to immediately return any of the unearned aid, they will be notified by the institution. Unearned aid is generally in the form of federal loans which will be repaid according to the terms of the Master Promissory Note.

The Return of Title IV Aid regulations require us to return the unearned funds in the following order:

1. Unsubsidized Federal Direct Loan

2. Subsidized Federal Direct Loan

3. Federal Direct PLUS Loan (Grad)

4. Federal Direct PLUS Loan (Parent)

5. Federal Pell Grant

6. Iraq and Afghanistan Service Grant

7. Federal Supplemental Educational Opportunity Grant (FSEOG)

8. TEACH Grant

Earned Title IV funding will be applied to the charges incurred while enrolled. The reduction in financial assistance caused by the Return of Title IV Aid calculation may result in an additional billing balance due on a student’s account.

If the amount of federal financial assistance disbursed to the student is less than the amount the student earned, and for which the student is otherwise eligible, he or she is eligible to receive a post-withdrawal disbursement (PWD) of the earned aid that was not received. If a student is eligible for a PWD of any aid (including federal loans), they will be notified via email by the Office of Financial Assistance at Bradley University within 30 days of the date the institution determined the student’s withdrawal occurred. Students (or parents for a Parent PLUS loan) will need to confirm, in writing, whether or not they choose to accept or decline the PWD within 14 calendar days of the date of the notification. Bradley University does not accept late responses - if the student or parent fails to respond to the PWD offer by the deadline, no PWD of federal loans will be made. Any PWD of grant funds for which the student is eligible will be disbursed within 45 days of the date the institution determined the student’s withdrawal occurred. Students/parents who accept loan funds via a PWD will be required to repay them. Any amounts accepted will count against lifetime borrowing limits for federal loans or lifetime eligibility used (LEU) for Pell Grant thus reducing the student’s future financial aid eligibility.

Students with official or unofficial withdrawals and with federal financial assistance will be sent notification of the processing of their withdrawal at their permanent residence on file within 30 days of the university’s determination of withdrawal. This notification will include a copy of a revised billing statement to indicate any changes in funding (including direct loan). If an additional refund/credit balance is owed to the student, the billing statement will show this along with what source of aid the refund is from. This credit balance will be disbursed as soon as possible and no later than 14 days following the completion of the Return of Title IV Aid calculation.

If the amount of federal financial assistance disbursed to the student is less than the amount the student earned, and for which the student is otherwise eligible, he or she is eligible to receive a post-withdrawal disbursement (PWD) of the earned aid that was not received. If a student is eligible for a PWD, they will be notified via email by the Office of Financial Assistance at Bradley University. Students will need to confirm, in writing, that they wish to utilize the PWD within 14 calendar days of the date of the notification. Bradley University does not accept late responses - if the student fails to respond to the PWD offer by the deadline, no PWD will be made. Students who accept loan funds via a PWD will be required to repay them. Any amounts accepted will count against lifetime borrowing limits for federal loans or lifetime eligibility used (LEU) for Pell Grant thus reducing the student’s future financial aid eligibility.

Students with official or unofficial withdrawals and with federal financial assistance will be sent notification of the processing of their withdrawal at their permanent residence on file within 30 days of the university’s determination of withdrawal. This notification will include a copy of a revised billing statement to indicate any changes in funding (including direct loan). If an additional refund is owed to the student, the billing statement will show this along with what source of aid the refund is from.

If the billing statement shows a reduction in federal loan funding, this is a result of the Return of Title IV aid calculation indicating that funds needed to be returned by the school. Bradley University must return the amount of Title IV funds for which it is responsible to the Department of Education as soon as possible but no later than 45 days after the date the we have determined the student withdrew.

Institutional Financial Assistance

In the event a student withdraws prior to incurring 100% of their tuition charges for the payment period, the institutional financial aid will follow the policy for institutional charges. If a student is being charged 50% of tuition, they will retain 50% of their institutional financial assistance. The aid retained will be applied to the institutional charges incurred while enrolled.

Refund of Illinois Monetary Award Program (MAP Grant)

If a student withdraws after the end of the add/drop period (end of the second full week of each semester) the student shall retain their MAP Grant payment, not to exceed the tuition and fees charged as a result of the withdrawal. Student withdrawals before the end of the add/drop period will result in the removal of estimated MAP Grant funds from the student’s aid package for the term of withdrawal.

Institutional Charges

For information about tuition charges upon withdrawal, please visit the course drops and withdrawal information on the Office of the Bursar’s website.

Example:

Kaboom is an undergraduate student who enrolled full-time at Bradley University for the fall semester. Kaboom stopped attending classes on October 1st and contacted Student Support Services to withdraw from the university that day. Kaboom does not meet any of the withdrawal exemptions for the Return of Title IV Aid calculation.

The fall term began on August 21st and is 113 days long. Kaboom has attended 42 days and has earned 37.2% of his federal financial aid (42 days divided by 113 days equals 37.2%). Kaboom’s official withdrawal date is October 1.

Kaboom received the following aid for the fall term:

1. The amount of federal aid Kaboom received is: $2,557 Subsidized Loan + $1,000 Parent PLUS Loan + $2,000 Federal Pell Grant = $5,557.

2. The total amount of federal aid earned by Kaboom is 37.2% x $5,557 = $2,067.20.

3. The total unearned federal aid that must be returned to the Department of Education is $5,557 - $2,067.20 = $3,489.80.

4. The second calculation determines the unearned amount based on the unearned percentage of a student’s institutional charges for tuition, fees, housing, and meals. Kaboom was charged $21,080 in tuition and fees and did not live on campus. If Kaboom lived on campus, his housing and meal plan would be added into the institutional charges used for this step. The percentage of unearned aid for this second calculation is 100% - 37.2% = 62.8% . Therefore, based on the tuition charges for the term, $21,080 x 62.8% = $13,238.24.

5. The amount of Kaboom’s federal aid that must be returned is the lesser of step 3 or 4 ($3,489.80 in our example which will be rounded to $3,490).

6. Federal guidelines determine the order of aid types to be reduced: Direct Subsidized Loan, Parent PLUS Loan, and then Pell Grant until $3,490 has been repaid. Therefore, Kaboom’s federal aid will be reduced to:

7. Given Kaboom’s withdrawal took place after the fall add/drop period the total amount of his State of Illinois MAP Grant can be applied to his charges as long as it does not exceed the adjusted tuition and fees. Kaboom’s adjusted tuition will be $21,080 * 50% = $10,540 based on the date of withdrawal and the institutional fall tuition proration schedule. Because $10,540 > $4,000 there is no reduction to MAP Grant.

8. The percentage applied to the tuition charges via the tuition proration schedule is also applied to the institutional financial aid. $10,000 * 50% = $5,000

Steps 1-6 demonstrate the effects of the Return of Title IV Aid calculation. Steps 7 and 8 demonstrate what happens to Kaboom’s state and institutional financial assistance. Once the Office of Financial Aid has fully processed these calculations, Kaboom will be sent a notification within 30 days alerting him to the fact that the Return of Title IV Aid calculation has been performed. An updated billing statement showing Kaboom’s prorated charges and reduced financial aid will be sent with this notification. The billing statement will show if Kaboom is due a refund or if he owes a balance to the university.

Policies and Procedures

• General Eligibility for Bradley University Undergraduate Grants and Scholarships
• General Appeal for Student Financial Aid Recipients
• Enrollment Requirements and Financial Assistance
• Financial Assistance and Minimum Grade Point Requirements
• Higher Education Housing and Opportunities Act
• Pell Grant Recalculation Policy
• Policy for Packaging Financial Assistance
• Policy and Procedure for Awarding Illinois Monetary Award Program (MAP) Grants
• Policy and Procedure for an Official Withdrawal
• Policy and Procedure for Satisfactory Academic Progress-Undergraduates
• Policy and Procedure for Satisfactory Academic Progress-Graduate Students
• Policy and Procedure for Satisfactory Academic Progress-Distance Education Graduate Students
• Policy and Procedure for Packaging External Assistance
• Consumer Information
• Code of Conduct for Bradley Aid Administrators
• Statement of Ethical Principles
• Policy on Student Aid Refunds
• Policy and Guidelines for the Handling Confidential Information