Voluntary Withdrawal
Voluntary Withdraw:
Students who have voluntarily withdrawn from the school or who were terminated for reasons other than failure to maintain satisfactory academic progress may apply for re-admission to the School Director. If approved for re-admission the student must sign a new enrollment agreement and will start in the next scheduled start date and will return in the same status as prior to withdrawal or termination.
The point in time that a student returns to school will depend on the previous class training that the school credits the student.
Note: Circumstances related to the typical adjustment to college life such as working while attending school, financial issues related to paying bills and car maintenance/travel to campus is not considered as extenuating for purposes of appealing suspension of financial aid.
Return of Title IV Policy
The Federal Return of Title IV funds formula (R2T4) dictates the amount of Federal Title IV aid that must be returned to the federal government or the lending institution by the school and/or the student. The federal formula is applicable to an eligible student receiving federal aid when that student withdraws on or before the 60% point in time in the payment period…
If a student did not start or begin attendance at the school, the R2T4 formula does not apply.
For official withdrawals a student’s withdrawal date is the date the school received notice from the student that they are withdrawing.
Official Withdrawal Process: If a student wishes to withdraw from school, they must notify the Director or the Registrar of the school. The notification may be in writing or orally. The date the notification is received is the date of determination. The Director or the Registrar will begin the withdrawal process.
For unofficial withdrawals a student’s withdrawal date is their last day of physical attendance. The school’s determination that a student is no longer in school for unofficial withdrawals is determined after 14 days of non-attendance.
Any aid received post LDA and prior to Date of Determination (DOD) is aid that could have been disbursed.
The federal formula requires a Return of Title IV calculation if the student received or could have received (based on eligibility criteria) federal financial assistance in the form of Pell Grants, Direct Loans or Direct Plus loans and withdraws on or before completing 60% of the payment period. The percentage of Title IV aid earned is equal to the percentage of the payment period that was completed as of the withdrawal date if this occurs on or before the 60% point of time. The percentage that has not been earned is calculated by subtracting the percentage of Title IV aid earned from 100%. The percentage of the payment period completed is calculated scheduled hours in the payment period as of the withdrawal date divided by the scheduled hours in the payment period.
The amount to be returned is calculated by subtracting the amount of Title IV assistance earned from the amount of Title IV aid that was or could have been disbursed as of the withdrawal date.
If a student receives less Title IV funds than the amount earned, the school will offer the student a disbursement of the earned aid that was not received at the time of their withdrawal which is a post withdrawal disbursement. Post withdrawal disbursements will be made from Pell grant funds first if eligible. If there are current educational costs still due the school at the time of withdrawal, a Pell grant post withdrawal disbursement will be credited to the student’s account. Any Pell grant funds in excess of current educational costs will be offered to the student. Any federal loan program funds due in a post withdrawal disbursement must be offered to the student and the school must receive the student’s authorization before crediting their account.
Refunds will be made to the federal programs within 45 days of the student’s date of determination.
The statute requires that a student is responsible for all unearned Title IV program assistance that the school is not required to return. This is determined by subtracting the amount returned by the school from the total amount of unearned Title IV funds to be returned.
Records Accuracy
It is the responsibility of the Financial Aid Administrator to maintain the integrity of the students financial aid files. The students’ records are constantly reviewed throughout the year for erroneous and conflicting information, and is corrected immediately upon discovery. If erroneous information is found, it will be documented in the AUDIT MEMO folder for clarification after the fact.
Reconciliation
Both the financial aid administrator and the business office are responsible for maintaining and documenting all students that funds have been requested for on a weekly or monthly basis.
Access
Both the Business office and the financial aid office have access to COD which we used as a point of first reference to verify funds received for the month.
Coordination of Reconciliation
The reconciliation is coordinated by the business office on the last Tuesday of every month. Both the financial aid office and the business office will meet to verify the amount of funds drawn down on a monthly basis, and if it coincides with our bank statements and the reconciliation provided by our third party servicer. A monthly audit report within our third party software will be pulled to verify accuracy or any discrepancies before closing the month being reconciled. The team will continue to update the main spread sheet with all requested funds for every month for pell and direct loans. The team will also continue to maintain separate folders with all rosters and funds received for each month. The team’s goal is to ensure Merryfield is administratively competent to manage and disbursed Title IV funds.
Exit Counseling
All students are required to complete their exit counseling before their actual graduation date. Before students are cleared for externship or graduation, they are required to stop by the financial aid office and complete the exit counseling on-line at http://www.nslds.ed.gov/nslds_SA/
Once completed, the students will also be counselled by the financial aid administrator on their current loan(s) and will assist student(s) with any additional questions or concerns. The financial aid administrator will also give further clarification(s) if needed and exit counseling materials will be given to every student.
If a student drop or withdraw without seeing the financial aid administrator, a letter will be mailed to the student home address on file with directives on how to complete the exit counseling process online, along with exit counseling materials and his or her obligations regarding the loans disbursed on his or her behalf. The following entails all that will be discuss in the exit counseling:
Students will be informed how to contact the agency servicing their loans.
- The importance of repaying back their loans.
- Discuss what are default and the consequences of defaulted loan.
- Explain to borrower the options to repay each loan, and different payment schedules and repayment plans
- Provide the average monthly payment amount based on borrower debt burden
- Review various repayment options such as (standard repayment, extended, graduated, income-sensitive/Consolidation).
- Provide information on loan consolidation
- Discuss tax debt management strategies and tax benefits
- Review forbearance, deferment, and cancellation options and procedures
- Inform student about the availability of loan information through the National Student Loan Data System (NSLDS)
- Ensure and borrowers understand their rights and responsibilities
- Update student’s personal information
