Refund for Total Withdrawal from all Courses in a Semester

Students who officially withdraw from all classes before the semester start date or within the first 8.999% of the calendar days of a session will receive a 100% refund of tuition and fees. During a standard fall or spring semester, students will have approximately 10 calendar days (8.999% of the total number of days in the full standard semester) including the first day of the semester to withdraw from all courses and receive a 100% refund. Students who withdraw after that point will receive a partial refund of tuition and fees for all classes they are enrolled in at the time that they choose to withdraw based on the following percentages in accordance with the North Dakota University System Refund policy 830.2: https://ndus.edu/state-board-of-higher-education/sbhe-policies/800-heading-policies/.

If a student drops courses after the 8.999% time but does not withdraw from all classes, then later withdraws from all classes they will only receive the tuition and fee refund on the classes they are still enrolled in when the withdraw occurs (i.e., if you are taking 4 classes and drop 3 in campus connection but do not withdraw completely until later you will only receive a refund for the 1 class in which you are still enrolled.)     

Students who must withdraw due to reasons beyond their control (Examples: family emergency, sudden illness, etc.), may request an exception to the refund schedule by petitioning the Registrar’s office. Documentation to verify the exceptional circumstances will be required.

Refunds of Room and Board Charges

Students who reside in the Residence Halls who withdraw from all courses in a semester shall receive a prorated refund up to the sixty percent point of the semester for room and board charges.  Students who use the residence hall or college food service one day into an instructional week will be charged for that entire instructional week.  Refunds are made only after a student has properly checked out of the residence halls.
 

Official Withdrawal Procedure

Students who wish to withdraw from all courses after the semester start date must officially withdraw to zero credits. Students who intend to withdraw cannot withdraw from all courses (drop to zero credits) in Campus Connection.  Campus Connection will not allow you to drop your last or only class.

The official withdraw form is found in Campus Connection.  Click on DCB eForms tab then under the academic records folder, Cancel/Withdraw to Zero. 

Withdrawal Date and Calculation of Earned and Unearned Title IV Aid

General Requirements, as per Federal Student Aid Handbook, Volume 5: Federal financial aid funds (Title IV Funds) are awarded to a student under the assumption that the student will attend school for the entire period for which the assistance is awarded. If a student ceases attendance (drops or withdraws) from all Title IV eligible courses in a payment period or period of enrollment, the student must be considered a withdrawal for Title IV purposes. The principle is the same for programs offered in modules. When a student withdraws, the student may no longer be eligible for the full amount of Title IV funds that were originally scheduled to receive. Furthermore, when a student withdraws, the student is no longer considered to be enrolled, and DCB must report the withdrawal to a national reporting system. Consequently, the student is no longer eligible for an in-school deferment (re: student loans).

The Department of Education specifies how institutions determine the amount of Title IV program assistance that a student earns if the student withdraws from school. The calculation of earned Title IV funds includes the following grant and loan funds (if they were disbursed or could have been) disbursed to a student for the period for which the calculation is being performed. The Title IV programs that are covered by the regulation are: Pell Grants, Supplemental Educational Opportunity Grants (SEOG), Direct Loans (subsidized/unsubsidized/PLUS).  Federal Work Study funds are not included in the calculation. 

When a student withdraws during a payment period or period of enrollment, the amount of Title IV program assistance that the student earned up to that point is determined by a specific formula. The amount of assistance that a student earned is determined on a pro rata basis. For example, if the student completed 30% of the payment period or period of enrollment, the student earned 30% of the aid that was received. If the student received more federal aid than earned, the excess funds must be returned by DCB and/or the student.

If the student completed more than 60% of the payment period or period of enrollment, all the assistance that a student was scheduled to receive for that period would be earned. There may be some Title IV funds that a student was scheduled to receive that cannot be disbursed after a withdrawal because of other eligibility requirements.

Withdrawal exemptions for programs offered in modules-A student is not considered to have withdrawn if the student successfully completes one module that includes 49 percent or more of the number of days in the payment period, excluding scheduled breaks of five or more consecutive days and all days between modules.  A student is not considered to have withdrawn if the student successfully completes a combination of modules that when combined contain 49 percent or more of the number of days in the payment period, excluding scheduled breaks of five or more consecutive days and all days between modules.  A student is not considered to have withdrawn if the student successfully completes coursework equal to or greater than the coursework required for the institution’s definition of a half-time student under 34 CFR 668.2(b) for the payment period.

If a student withdraws and has a credit balance, the 14-day payment requirement is placed on hold to determine the final amount of any Title IV credit balance. DCB must perform the Return of Title IV funds calculation, and to allow DCB time to appropriately apply any credit balance after it has recalculated, a new 14-day deadline begins on the date DCB performs the Return calculation (not the date DCB performs any calculations required by the institutional refund policy).  [NOTE: To determine the correct Title IV credit balance, DCB must consider both the results of the Return calculation and any applicable refund policy.]  The Return of Title IV notice is sent to the students’ campus email and personal email.  Students with a credit balance will receive a billing statement sent by postal mail to their mailing address as listed in Campus Connection.  Students may also view their bill in Campus Connection.  Contact information for the Business office is included in the billing statement and Return of Title IV letter. 

If you did not receive all the funds that you earned, you may be due a post-withdrawal

disburse­ment. If your post-withdrawal disbursement includes loan funds, your school must get your permission before it can disburse them. You may choose to decline some or all the loan funds so that you don’t incur additional debt. Your school may automatically use all or a portion of your post-withdrawal dis­bursement of grant funds for tuition, fees, and room and board charges (as contracted with the school). The school needs your permission to use the post-withdrawal grant disbursement for all other school charges. If you do not give your permission (some schools ask for this when you enroll), you will be offered the funds. However, it may be in your best interest to allow the school to keep the funds to reduce your debt at the school. The school must offer any post-withdrawal disbursement of loan funds within 30 days of the date the school determined the student withdrew. A school must always return any unearned Title IV funds it is responsible for returning within 45 days of the date the school determined the student withdrew. The school must provide the student or parent the minimum 14-day (or longer if it chooses) response period for post-withdrawal disbursements of Direct Loan funds.

A school must disburse any Title IV grant funds a student is due as part of a post-withdrawal disbursement within 45 days of the date the school determined the student withdrew and disburse any loan funds a student accepts within 180 days of the date the school determined the student withdrew. However, there are some Title IV funds that you were scheduled to receive that cannot be disbursed to you once you withdraw because of other eligibility requirements.

If a student withdraws and has received excess Title IV program funds that must be returned, DCB must return a portion of the excess equal to the lesser of: the institutional charges multiplied by the unearned percentage of the funds, or the entire amount of excess funds.  If DCB is not required to return all the excess funds, the student must return the remaining amount.  Any amount of unearned grant funds that the student must return is called an overpayment. The maximum amount of a grant overpayment that the student must repay is half of the grant funds the student received or was scheduled to receive. Students who owe overpayments because of withdrawals initially will retain their eligibility for Title IV funds for a maximum of 45 days from the earlier of: the date the school sends the student notice of the overpayment, or the date DCB was required to notify the student of the overpayment.  Within 30 days of determining that a student who withdrew must repay all or part of the Title IV grant, DCB must notify the student that the overpayment must be repaid or make satisfactory arrangements to repay it within 30 days of the notification, students are notified by campus and personal email as well as a letter sent via postal mail to the mailing address listed in Campus Connection.  If the student takes no action during the 45-day period, the student’s overpayment must be reported immediately to the Department of Education.  Any loan funds that the student (or the parent for a PLUS Loan) must return will be repaid in accordance with the terms of the promissory note. That is, the borrower will make scheduled payments to the holder of the loan over a period of time. 

When a student withdraws, the requirements for Title IV program funds are separate from the refund policy. Therefore, a student may still owe funds to DCB to cover unpaid institutional charges. DCB may also charge a student for any Title IV program funds that DCB was required to return.

Distribution of Unearned Title IV Aid

In compliance with federal regulations, a school must return Title IV funds to the programs from which the student received aid during the payment period or period of enrollment as applicable, in the following order, up to the net amount disbursed from each source:

• Unsubsidized Direct loans (other than PLUS loans)
• Subsidized Direct loans
• Direct Parent PLUS loans
• Federal Pell Grants
• Federal Supplemental Educational Opportunity Grants (FSEOG)

Federal Work-Study funds paid to recipients will not be included in the computation of earned Title IV aid, nor will these funds be refunded to the federal account from which they were paid.

 Unearned Title IV grants and loan funds due from DCB will be repaid to the federal accounts for the specified payment period (semester) within 45 days of the date the school determined the student withdrew.  Unearned portions of Title IV grant aid due from the student will be the responsibility of the student unless the student makes arrangements with DCB to pay the grant overpayment. All repayments made by DCB pursuant to this policy will be charged to the student account.

Unofficial Withdrawals

In the absence of an official withdrawal and the student ceases attendance, the following procedures will apply.

1. A list of students who received all F’s, I’s or U’s for a term (period of enrollment) will be extracted from the Registrar’s Office records.
2. Class instructors will be asked to document the last known date of an academically related activity for the student, i.e., an exam, daily assignment, attendance in class, etc.
3. If the latest date any instructor can document is after the 60% point in the enrollment period, the student is considered to have earned 100% of their financial aid.  If the latest date is before the 60% point in the term, the latest documented date will be used as the last date of attendance by the student. A return of Title IV Aid calculation will be completed for all withdraws regardless of date of withdraw.  If documentation indicates no attendance in any class, the student will be deemed ineligible for financial aid received per federal regulations and the student will be required to repay all aid received for that semester.
4. Based on the last date of attendance, a Return of Title IV funds calculation will be processed to determine the type(s) and amount(s) of financial aid to be returned.
5. All financial aid funds to be returned will be the responsibility of the student.
6. An unofficial withdrawal letter is sent by the financial aid office within 30 days of the final notification from the instructor(s) of the last date of attendance.  The notice of unofficial withdraw is sent to the student’s campus and personal email notifying them of their obligation at the time the institution returns the financial aid funds.
7. The Business Office will place a hold on the student’s record at DCB. Institutional collection procedures will be followed in accordance with DCB’s policies.
8. Students will also be placed on Financial Aid Disqualification following the period of enrollment in which they receive all “F”, “U” or “I” grades that are permanent.

Administrative Withdrawals

Administrative withdrawal from a course, multiple courses or all courses may affect a student’s financial aid awards when the withdrawal results in a full-time student losing full-time status.

1. A list of students submitted by Faculty, due to lack of attendance in class, is received from the Registrar’s Office.
   • Administrative withdraws may also be completed by the Registrar’s office if notified by a student, staff or faculty of a student’s death or other reasonable communication with the student regarding non-attendance/withdraw from school.
   • Students are administrative withdrawn due to academic suspension.
   • Students may be administratively withdrawn due to non-payment.
2. To facilitate proper financial aid disbursement instructors will send to the Registrar any students who have never attended class by the 12^th calendar day of classes in a regular 16-week semester and by the 5^th calendar day of a summer or 8-week semester.
   • If documentation indicates no attendance in any class, the student will be deemed ineligible for any financial aid already disbursed per federal regulations and the student will be required to repay all aid received for that semester.  If financial aid has not been disbursed the student will not be eligible for a disbursement.   
3. All financial aid funds to be returned will be the responsibility of the student.
4. A recalculation of funds letter detailing the amount of will be sent to the student’s campus and personal email notifying them of their obligation at the time the institution returns the financial aid funds.