The federal government mandates that students who withdraw from all classes or otherwise fail to complete any attempted classes during a semester may only keep the financial aid they have “earned” up to the time of withdrawal or non attendance. Title IV funds that have been disbursed in excess of the earned amount must be returned by the university and/or the student to the federal government.
The Office of Scholarships and Financial Aid will perform a calculation to determine the amount of aid earned by the student that he or she may keep (for example, if the student attended 25% of the term, the student will have earned 25% of the aid disbursed). The unearned amount (total aid disbursed minus the earned amount) must be returned to the federal government by the university and/or the student. Thus the student could owe aid funds to the university, the government, or both. The Office of Scholarships and Financial Aid will notify and provide instructions to students who are required to return funds to the government.