Return/Repayment of Title IV Funds Policy

Federal Title IV student aid is provided to assist students to pay for part or all of the expenses relating to their attendance at the College. Should a student cease to be enrolled for classes or stop attending, the College is required by federal law to determine whether or not any of the aid provided to the student must be returned by the College or REPAID BY THE STUDENT to the programs from which the aid came.

This policy is effective for all students to whom Title IV funds are disbursed for attendance at the college, but who cease to be enrolled for all classes or fail all their classes due to lack of attendance prior to the sixty per cent (60%) point of the term for which the funds are disbursed.
NO return is required if the student’s last date of attendance is after the 60% point of the term. A student withdrawing after the 60% point will have earned all his/her aid for the term and will not be required to return any funds.
The determination of the amount to be returned is based upon a percentage of the Title IV funds disbursed. The percentage is derived by dividing the number of calendar days in the term that the student was enrolled (from the first day of classes up to and including the last date of attendance) by the total number of calendar days in the term. A copy of the worksheet used to determine the amount to be returned may be obtained from the Financial Aid Office.
Returns are made in the following order: Unsubsidized Federal Stafford Loans, Subsidized Federal Stafford Loans, Federal PLUS Loans, Federal Pell Grants, Federal Supplemental Educational Opportunity Grants, other Title IV aid.
Responsibilities regarding the return of Title IV funds:
- The College is responsible for:
  - Providing each student with a copy of this policy
  - Identifying students who are affected by this policy
  - Determining the amount of Title IV funds to be returned
  - Returning to the Title IV programs any funds they are due
  - A student affected by this policy is responsible for paying to the College the amount of any Title IV funds disbursed to him/her which are required to be returned.
  - Financial aid recipients are strongly encouraged to consult with their financial aid advisor regarding the ramifications of withdrawal prior to dropping all classes.
- A student wanting to withdraw must contact the Student Records Office. He/she must complete an official withdrawal form and obtain all required signatures. The withdrawal becomes official on the day that the processing of the withdrawal request is complete and is recorded by the Student Records Office.
The College will notify the student of the amount he/she is required to repay within 30 days of the withdrawal date.
The student will, within 45 days of the date that the college mails him/her notification that repayment is required, pay the amount owed or make repayment arrangements acceptable to the College. Should this not occur, the repayment obligation will be reported to the Attorney General of the State of Ohio. The Attorney General will use all methods granted by law–including wage garnishment, state income tax refund seizure, and credit bureau reporting—to collect the funds owed.

A student owing a repayment of Title IV funds is INELIGIBLE for any Federal financial aid at ANY college and MAY NOT enroll at ANY college until repayment is made.

Return of Title IV Funds

Federal Student Aid Policy Regarding Return of Title IV Funds

The law specifies how your school must determine the amount of Title IV program assistance that you earn if you withdraw from school. The Title IV programs that are covered by this law are: Federal Pell Grants, Academic Competetiveness Grants, National SMART grants, Stafford Loans, PLUS Loans, Federal Supplemental Educational Opportunity Grants (FSEOGs), and Federal Perkins Loans.

When you withdraw during your payment period or period of enrollment (your school can define these for you and tell you which one applies) the amount of Title IV program assistance that you have earned up to that point is determined by a specific formula. If you received (or your school or parent received on your behalf ) less assistance than the amount that you earned, you may be able to receive those additional funds. If you received more assistance than you earned, the excess funds must be returned by the school and/or you.

The amount of assistance that you have earned is determined on a prorata basis. For example, if you completed 30% of your payment period or period of enrollment, you earn 30% of the assistance you were originally scheduled to receive. Once you have completed more than 60% of the payment period or period of enrollment, you earn all the assistance that you were scheduled to receive for that period.

If you did not receive all of the funds that you earned, you may be due a post-withdrawal disbursement. If the 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 of 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 (including loan funds, if you accept them) for tuition, fees, and room and board charges (as contracted with the school). For all other school charges, the school needs your permission to use the post-withdrawal disbursement. If you do not give your permission (which some schools ask for 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.

Your school must also get your permission before it can disburse directly to you any Title IV grant funds that are part of a post-withdrawal disbursement. 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. For example, if you are a first-time, first-year undergraduate student and you have not completed the first 30 days of your program before you withdraw, you will not receive any FFEL or Direct loan funds that you would have received had you remained enrolled past the 30th day.

If you receive (or your school or parent receive on your behalf ) excess Title IV program funds that must be returned, your school must return a portion of the excess equal to the lesser of: your institutional charges multiplied by the unearned percentage of your funds, or The school must return this amount even if it didn’t keep this amount of your Title IV program funds.

If your school is not required to return all of the excess funds, you must return the remaining amount. Any loan funds that you must return, you (or your parent for a PLUS Loan) repay in accordance with the terms of the promissory note. That is, you make scheduled payments to the holder of tthe loan over a period of time.

Any amount of unearned grant funds that you must return is called an overpayment. The amount of a grant overpayment that you must repay is half of the grant funds you received or were scheduled to receive. You must make arrangements with your school or the Department of Education to return the unearned grant funds.

The requirements for Title IV program funds when you withdraw are separate from any refund policy that your school may have. Therefore, you may still owe funds to the school to cover unpaid institutional charges. Your school may also charge you for any Title IV program funds that the school was required to return. If you don’t already know what your school’s refund policy is, you can ask your school for a copy. Your school can also provide you with the requirements and procedures forofficially withdrawing from school.

If you have questions about your Title IV program funds, you can call the Federal Student Aid Information Center at 1-800-4-FEDAID (1-800-433-3243). TTY users may call 1-800-730-8913. Information is also available on Student Aid on the Web at www.studentaid.ed.gov

Pell Recalculation Policy

The federal government requires all colleges to set Pell Recalculation Date (PRD) for every semester. The policy of the North Central State College Financial Aid Office is to review/recalculate Pell grant eligibility at the end of the 100% tuition refund period (add/drop week) of the term/session one of the term in which a student is enrolled.

Any classes added after the Pell Recalculation Date will not count towards your Federal Pell Grant eligibility, regardless of the start date for the class. If you drop, withdraw from, or do not attend classes that you were registered for, your financial aid award may be adjusted.

Federal regulations do require the College to recalculate Pell grant eligibility when a student fails to attend any course used to award a Pell grant.

Federal regulations dictate that institutions required to take attendance have a procedure in place that documents that each student has begun attendance in all of the classes for which they were approved for federal aid. It also requires institutions to document the last date of attendance for students who withdraw from or fail their courses.

Institutions must have a procedure in place for routinely monitoring attendance to determine in a timely manner when a student withdraws.

SAP Policies

Satisfactory Academic Progress for Financial Aid

Those applying for or receiving financial aid at North Central State College are expected to make Satisfactory Academic Progress toward receiving a degree or eligible certificate. Lack of such progress will result in the termination of eligibility to receive financial aid at the College.

Financial aid programs covered by these standards

Federal Pell Grant
Federal Supplemental Educational Opportunity Grant (SEOG)
Federal Work-Study employment (FWS)
Federal Direct Student Loans (both Subsidized and Unsubsidized)
Federal Direct PLUS Loans
North Central State College Scholarships

Definitions

Accumulative: relating to the total of all credit hours in which a student has ever enrolled at the College

Credit hours attempted: those in which a student is enrolled at the end of the College’s 100% refund period

Credit hours earned: those in which a student has received passing grade

Passing grades: A, A-, B+, B, B-, C+, C, C-, D+, D, D-, P

Non-passing grades: F, NP, W, I, WNP, WCV

Part I Standard – First time enrollees

Requirement: Earn at least one credit hour in the first term of enrollment at the College

Consequence of noncompliance: Financial aid eligibility suspended

Part II Standards – GPA and Completion Percentage

Requirements:

Earn an Accumulative Grade Point Average (GPA) of at least a 2.00
Earn passing grades in 67 percent of accumulative credit hours attempted

Consequences of noncompliance with either standard:

First term – placed on Financial Aid Warning
Second consecutive term enrolled – Financial Aid Suspended

Regaining eligibility

Those whose financial aid eligibility has been terminated because of these standards may regain eligibility by:

Bringing one’s academic record into compliance with the standards; or
Submitting a written appeal to the College and receiving approval of the appeal.

Part III Standard – Maximum Time Frame (150 Percent Rule)

Requirement:

Earn degree or eligible certificate within 150 percent of the minimum number of credit hours required to earn the degree/certificate.
Credits transferred to North Central State College and any credits attempted at North Central State College, with or without the benefit of financial aid, must be taken into consideration.
Irrespective of number of credit hours attempted, the maximum time frame is reached when requirements for a student’s first financial aid eligible credential are met.
If at any point in time the Financial Aid Office determines that the student cannot complete their program within the 150% timeframe, the student will be immediately suspended from future financial aid for the remainder of their program

Consequence of noncompliance: Financial aid eligibility terminated

note: Excess Financial Aid

You may qualify for more aid than what is required to pay your tuition bill.
You may use excess financial aid to charge books at the campus bookstore beginning the Tuesday before the first day of classes. You will be required to pay for any charges which surpass the amount of your excess aid. Aid amounts can change, even after books are purchased.
What is left of your aid after tuition and bookstore charges have been deducted will be refunded to you. However, because individual aid and enrollment circumstances vary widely, it is difficult to determine:
- when a refund will be made,
- if a student will receive their entire refund in one disbursement, and
- the dollar amount of a particular refund. It is certain that by the end of the semester, everything a student is eligible to receive will have been disbursed. Important note: This means that you cannot rely on having a refund at a particular time and should not tell creditors that you will be able to pay a bill with a financial aid refund on a particular date.
Refunds are made beginning the fifth week of the semester by direct deposit and the sixth week of the semester for paper checks by postal mail. Refunds continue to be made each Tuesday thereafter.
Sign up for direct deposit on MyNC early in the term. Direct deposit gets you your money faster, and it’s safer. • If aid does not pay for all of your tuition charges, payment of the remaining balance is to be made to the College cashier’s office. The cashier can set up a payment plan for you.