Return of Federal Financial Aid Funds policy
A page within Financial Aid
Students who receive Financial Aid should be aware that, in some cases, they may have their Financial Aid adjusted due to credit drops and withdrawals. These adjustments could affect the overall refund a student will receive and may cause the student to owe a university bill.
When a student drops credits:
- When a student drops or adds credits during the 100% tuition adjustment period for that course, their Financial Aid award may have to be adjusted. The Federal Pell Grant will be adjusted based on the new credit load.
- The student’s Financial Aid budget will also be adjusted based on the credit load change.
- If these changes creates an over award, some of the aid may be returned.
- After the 100% adjustment period, there will be no aid adjustments for a credit drop/add unless the course has not started yet or the drop is backdated to the 100% tuition adjustment period.
- If a student drops credits after the 100% tuition adjustment period and has not accepted their aid, they are still eligible for that aid since they were eligible at the time of awarding.
- At the time of initial awarding, a student must be awarded based on their current enrollment status.
When a student withdraws:
- Federal law specifies how a school determines the amount of federal financial aid students have earned and how much must be repaid to the federal aid programs when the student withdraws from school during the semester.
- According to federal regulations, the amount of aid earned will be calculated on a pro-rata (percentage) basis. The percentage earned equals the number of calendar days completed before withdrawal divided by the total number of calendar days in the enrollment period.
- Pro-rata return of Federal funds is required if the withdrawal occurs before sixty percent (60%) of the semester has elapsed.
- When a student has received federal financial aid in excess of the percentage earned, the funds must be returned to the federal financial aid programs. The student may be responsible for repayment of unearned financial aid, in addition to any fees owed to the University. Amounts to be repaid will be added to the student's University bill.
- Processing of the withdrawal and calculation of any amounts to be repaid, will be completed when all account adjustments are received in the Business Services Office. The student will receive bills according to the University's regular billing schedule. Payments for any amounts due are to be made to the UWL Cashiers Office. Loans are to be repaid to the lender per the terms of the loan agreement.
- The student's university records will be restricted, and the student will not be eligible for further federal financial aid until all amounts are paid in full.
The Financial Aid Office is not able to calculate or estimate the amount of funds to be returned, if any.
Tuition Refund Schedules
