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Students earn Title IV assistance in proportion to their attendance in school, up until they attend beyond the 60% point of the semester. If a student withdraws, or otherwise ceases attendance, from the college at or before the 60% point, he/she will have earned financial aid in direct proportion to the percentage of days attended in the semester. After 60%, the student has earned 100 percent of his/her financial aid awards for that enrollment period. The Return of Title IV regulation can result in a student with a balance owed to the college and/or the Title IV programs.

The Return of Title IV Funds calculation is as follows.

The Return of Title IV funds provisions apply to:

  1. Students eligible for Title IV aid as established via the FAFSA and
  2. Students who have actually begun attendance in a Title IV eligible course and the student either
    1. Officially withdrew completely or,
    2. Otherwise ceased attendance
  3. If the student has not actually begun attendance in a Title IV eligible course, then student has not earned any funds and all Title IV aid disbursed must be returned.

The provisions apply to the following Title IV funds:

  • Federal Pell Grants, Iraq and Afghanistan Service Grants, TEACH Grants, Federal Supplemental Educational Opportunity Grants, both Direct Subsidized and Unsubsidized loans, Direct PLUS loans, and Federal Perkins Loans
  • These provisions do NOT apply to Federal Work Study.

The college determines the withdrawal date through:

  • Official Withdrawals: The date the withdrawal form is submitted, either via the portal or in person at the Registrar’s office.
  • Unofficial Withdrawal: The last date of attendance as submitted by the instructors when final grades of F's or U's are submitted.

Trident Technical College does not have a policy that allows students to take a leave of absence.

The college determines the amount of Title IV funds that a student earned by:

  • Dividing the number of competed days in the scheduled semester by the total number of days in the scheduled semester (excluding any scheduled breaks of 5 or more days) and then multiplying the resulting percentage by the total amount of aid that was (or could have been) disbursed

Title IV funds that remain undisbursed at the time of student's withdrawal:

  • If, at the time of withdrawal, the amount of aid earned by the student is less than the amount disbursed to the student, the student may be subject to a post withdrawal disbursement. However, certain restrictions apply:
    • See Conditions for a late disbursement, beginning at Title IV aid that could have been disbursed.

The college determines the amount of Title IV funds that must be returned by:

  • The amount of Title IV aid earned by the student is subtracted from the total Title IV aid disbursed.

Both the college and the student have responsibilities in returning funds:

  • College: return the lesser of the following two amounts:
    • Amount of unearned charges (Institutional charges multiplied by the percentage of unearned aid)
    • Total amount of Title IV aid to be returned
  • Student:
    • Loans: The difference of the Net loans disbursed to the student minus the total loans the school must return.
    • Grants: To find the amount of grants the school must return, the following steps are taken
      • First, the total amount of aid to be returned minus the amount for the school to return is calculated.
      • The amount of loan funds the student is required to return is then subtracted from the amount calculated above.
        • If the difference is less than or equal to zero, then the student does not have to repay any grant funds.
        • If the difference is greater than zero, then the amount is multiplied by the 50% grant protection to determine final amount due from the student.
          • If the amount of any grant is $50 or less, then the student is not required to pay. If it is more than $50, then this is the amount of grant overpayment the student must return.

The order for return of Title IV funds:

  • Unsubsidized Direct Loan
  • Subsidized Direct Loan
  • Perkins Loan
  • Direct PLUS (Graduate Student)
  • Direct PLUS (Parent)
  • Pell Grant
  • Academic Competitiveness Grant
  • National Smart Grant
  • Federal Supplemental Educational Opportunity Grants
  • TEACH Grant
  • Iraq Afghanistan Service Grant

Applicable Deadlines:

  • Within 30 days of the date of determination that a student withdrew:
    • The college must notify a student if a grant overpayment is due.
    • The college must offer a post-withdrawal disbursement of loan funds.
  • Within 45 days of the date of determination that a student withdrew:
    • The college must return any unearned funds.
    • Make any post-withdrawal disbursements of grant funds.
  • By the 45th day of the official notification (or the date the official notification was required to be sent) that a student owes a grant overpayment, the student must take positive action in one of three ways to avoid losing Title IV eligibility:
    • The student may repay the overpayment in full to the college.
    • The student may sign a repayment agreement with the college.
    • The student may sign a repayment agreement with the Department of Education.