VALLEY CITY STATE UNIVERSITY

Refund and Return of Title IV Funds Policies

When a Student Requests a Complete Withdrawal

 

Valley City State University is a credit hour institution.  Federal policy for calculating refunds is based on calendar days of enrollment and class attendance.  This applies to federal financial aid recipients who withdraw or fail to complete the term for which the financial aid was disbursed.  Federal financial aid funds (Title IV funds) are disbursed to students with the assumption that the student will attend  for the entire period for which the assistance was awarded.  When a student withdraws, the student may no longer be eligible for the full amount of federal financial aid funds that the student was originally scheduled to receive.  

 

The Title IV programs covered by this policy are:

  • Federal Pell Grant
  • Federal Supplemental Educational Opportunity Grant (FSEOG)
  • Federal TEACH Grant
  • Federal Iraq and Afghanistan Service Grant
  • Federal Direct Loans
  • Federal Direct PLUS Loans

 

If a student withdraws on or after the first day of a payment period, a prorated schedule is used to determine the amount of Title IV funds the student has earned up through the sixty percent point (calculated based on the first day of the first class of the semester through the last day of the last final exam day of the semester) of each payment period.  After the sixty percent point of the payment period, federal regulations affirm that students have earned one hundred percent of the federal financial aid funds they were scheduled to receive during the payment period.  For a student who withdraws after the sixty percent point, there are no unearned funds.

 

Refund of Dropped Courses (while enrolled in other courses for the same term)

During the first 8.999% of the calendar days of a semester, student will receive a 100% refund of tuition and fees for dropped courses.  During a standard fall or spring semester, students will have approximately 10 calendar days (including the first day of the semester) to drop classes and receive a 100% refund (8.999% of the total number of calendar days from the first day of classes to the last day of final exams for the term.)  After the first 8.99% of the semester, students will receive a 0% refund of tuition and fees for dropped courses when they continue to be enrolled in other courses for the same term.

 

Refund for Complete 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 term will receive a 100% refund of tuition and fees.  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 elect to withdraw based on the following percentages in accordance with the North Dakota University System Refund Policy 830.2.

 

Tuition & Fee Refund Percentage             Percentage of Enrollment Period Completed

100                                                                         0% - 8.999%

75                                                                           9.000% - 34.999%

50                                                                           35.000% - 59.999%

0                                                                             60.000% - 100.000%

 

Refunds for Room and Board Charges

Room refunds are calculated on a pro-rated basis.  No refund will be made after the tenth week.  Board refunds are calculated based on actual usage of the student’s board plan.  The student will receive credit for the unused portion of the board plan.

 

Withdrawal Dates and Calculation of Earned and Unearned Federal Title IV Financial Aid Funds

The date of withdrawal will be the date the student begins the withdrawal process by completing the withdrawal form.  The amount of Federal Title IV aid earned is calculated by dividing the number of calendar days from the first day of the beginning of the term to the point of withdrawal by the total number of days in the term (minus any breaks of five or more consecutive days).  The resulting percentage is then multiplied by the amount of federal financial aid that was accepted for the term to determine the amount of federal financial aid that is earned and that a student is allowed to keep.  This amount is subtracted from the amount of aid disbursed and the balance becomes the amount of unearned aid that must be returned to the federal aid programs at the time of withdrawal.

 

Refund by Institution

The institution will calculate the refund/repayment due within seven (7) days of receiving notice of an official withdrawal.  The student will be sent a letter of explanation of the calculation and return of funds within 30 days of withdrawal.

 

Unofficial withdrawal calculations will be processed immediately upon determining a last date of attendance (LDA) when administering the Satisfactory Academic Progress process at the end of each term. Student will receive a letter of notification and repayment within 30 days of this determination.