Financial aid is pro-rated for the semester, meaning that aid is earned at a certain rate and not completely provided at the very beginning of the semester. A student "earns" financial aid in proportion to the time they are enrolled up to the 60% point. If you stop attending classes, or withdraw from the college, you may not be eligible for all the aid awarded. Students who officially withdraw from the college will have their financial aid calculated to determine the percentage of aid that was earned at the point of withdrawal; any unearned aid will be returned to the appropriate federal aid program. This is known as the Return of Title IV Federal Financial Aid. If earned aid is less than your bill, you will have to pay the balance. After the 60% point in the semester, all financial aid is considered earned. This policy also applies to medical withdrawals.

PRO-RATION EXAMPLE: A student is enrolled for 10-credit hours during the fall semester. Their original award was a Pell grant for $2,286. They withdrew on 10/02/18, completing 30 out of 109 days in the semester. They earned 27.5% of their Pell Grant adjusting their award to $628.55. The college returned $1,657.35 to the Federal Government and the student now has an outstanding bill. Within 30 days of determining the withdrawal date the college mails a letter to the student notifying them of the calculation and their revised financial aid award.

As part of the Return calculation an evaluation will be done to determine if aid was eligible to be disbursed but had not disbursed as of the withdrawal date. If the student meets the federal criteria for a post withdrawal disbursement, the student will be notified of their eligibility within 30-days of determining the withdrawal date. Any post withdrawal aid the student is eligible for or wishes to accept would first be applied toward outstanding charges before any funds are returned to the student.

For a student who withdraws after the 60% point-in-time, there is no unearned aid. However, the school will still complete a Return calculation in order to determine whether the student is eligible for a post-withdrawal disbursement.