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Returning of Financial Aid – Title IV Funds

Return of Title IV Funds Calculations 

Students may need to repay financial aid that they have received but did not earn since they did not complete the session/semester. This is commonly referred to as Return of Title IV funds.  

A student’s financial aid is based on the number of credit hours a student in enrolled in and the number of days that the student is enrolled in those classes. When a student initiates a withdrawal from one or more classes the amount of financial aid the student is eligible to receive is affected. The Return of Title IV Funds to the federal government is based on a calculation which determines how much aid the student is eligible to receive and how much the student is no longer eligible for due to them ceasing enrollment. This calculation is applicable until the student has completed more than 60 percent of the semester. Once the student has completed 60 percent of the semester, all eligible financial aid is considered earned.  

To calculate the percent of the enrollment period completed, take the number of calendar days the student attended in their enrollment period and divide that by the number of calendar days in the enrollment period (Less scheduled breaks of at least five consecutive days).  

  • An enrollment period for a student in only one session would be the length of that session (8 weeks for sessions 1-6).  
  • For the Self-Paced degree program students, their eligibility is determined by the percentage of coursework that was completed during the payment period. A withdrawal calculation will be required for students who do not successfully complete the assignment within each six month enrollment period or that do not re-enroll in their second set of course within 45 days of completing their first set of courses for that payment period.  

Upper Iowa University will complete the calculation within 30 days on the university being notified for the students withdrawal and will return all Title IV funding back the Department of Education within 45 days. This may result in a balance on the student’s account, the student is then required to pay this balance with Upper Iowa University.  

Withdrawals (W): 

A student is considered to have withdrawn from a Session/Semester if the student does not complete all the days within the session/semester that the student was scheduled to complete.  

  • If a student withdrawals he/she’s last date of attendance is verified with their instructor. The student’s last date of attendance will be used to calculate earned aid within the “Return of Title IV Funds” calculation.  
  • Students can initiate the withdrawal process by contacting the Office of Student Development (Fayette Campus Students) or completing the Registrar’s Electronic Withdrawal Form which is available on MyUIU portal.  

Administrative Withdrawals (AW): 

Students who fail to attend or quit attending any or all of their courses will be subjected to an Administrative Withdrawal. Upper Iowa University (UIU) will contact the student via email or telephone prior to them being administratively withdrawn.  

  • Attendance includes academically related activities. Attendance does not include activities where the student may be present but not academically engaged such as:  
  • Living in the dorms (Fayette Campus students) 
  • Logging into an online course without active participation 
  • Participating in academic counseling or advisement 
  • Presence in intercollegiate athletic participation or presence in fine arts ensemble. (Fayette Campus Students)  

Never Attended (NA): 

Students that never established enrollment in their courses are not eligible to receive financial aid for NA’d course and will have their eligibility adjusted.  

Leave of Absence: 

Upper Iowa University does not currently have a Leave of Absence policy or process for the purpose of Return of Title IV Funds calculations. Students will receive a withdrawal and a calculation will be performed.  

Unearned Financial Aid 

By federal law, unearned Title IV Funds must be returned to the federal government for a student who ceases attendance on or before the 60% point in the enrollment period. The amount that is returned is determined by the following:  

  • Determine percentage of enrollment period student completed  
  • Divide number of days attended by the number of days in the enrollment period 
  • Earned aid= Total awarded Title IV aid multiplied by the same percentage 
  • Unearned aid= Earned aid subtracted from total dispersible aid 
  • Upper Iowa will then return unearned Title IV aid back to the federal government.  
  • If the student’s portion of the aid returned is Federal loan funding, the student is not obligated to start immediate repayments their loan lender.  
  • If the student’s portion of aid returned in an overpayment of grant funding, the student is required to only repay the amount exceeding 50% of the total grant.  
  • Unearned Title IV funds will be returned to the federal government in this order:  
  1. Unsubsidized Federal Direct Loans 
  1. Subsidized Federal Direct Loans 
  1. Direct Parent PLUS Loans 
  1. Federal Pell Grant 
  1. Federal Supplemental Education Opportunity Grant (FSEOG) 
  1. Federal TEACH Grants 
  1. Iraq and Afghanistan Grant 
  • If a student received a private scholarship it will be returned to the program based on their guidelines.  
  • According to the UIU’s policy, if a student withdrawals and received 100% tuition refund from the university all of the sessions/semesters federal Title IV funding will be returned back to the federal government and a student will have a balance on their student account.  

Post Withdrawal Disbursements (PWD) 

A Student who had their attendance confirmed may be eligible for a post withdrawal disbursement if, prior to withdrawing the student earned more federal financial aid than was disbursed. If a student is eligible for a post withdrawal disbursement for Title IV funds it will be process for the student and a refund will be issued within 14 days of the credit balance.  

If the post withdrawal disbursement included Federal loan funding, UIU must get the student’s permission before it can disburse the loan funding. Students may choose to decline some or all ofthe loan funds so that he/she does not incur additional debt. A notice will be sent out to the student, and the signed, original document must be returned to the school within 14 days. If the post withdrawal disbursement only includes grant funding UIU will then disburse it the students account, a signed PWD form is not needed. Students do not have to accept Federal Grant funding.  

UIU will automatically be disbursed agreed upon post withdrawal disbursement funding towards any debit balance that remains on the student’s account.  

It is also important to understand that accepting a post withdrawal disbursement of student loan funds will increase a student’s overall loan debt that must be repaid under the terms on the Master Promissory Note. Additionally, accepting the disbursement of grant funds will reduce the remaining amount of grant funds available to the student should the student continue his/her education at a later date 

Intent to Returns 

If a student is attending only session courses, who then completed the first session then drops or fails to start the course in a subsequent session the beings later in the same semester (withdrawing between sessions) he or she will be considered withdrawn from the term using the last day of academically related activity as the withdrawal date.  

If a student provides written confirmation at the time of their withdrawal of their intent to attend courses registered in a session that beings later in the same semester, they would not be considered a withdrawal. If, however, the student fails to return as intended, the student will be considered withdrawn from the session and the last day of attendance or academically related activity would be the withdraw date and the enrollment period would be the session(s) that were scheduled to be attended at the time of the written confirmation.  

Failure to provide written confirmation of future attendance within seven days will result in the student being dropped for their subsequent sessions within the semester and a calculation will be performed.  

Enrollment Changes (Other than Withdrawal) 

When a student fails or withdrawals from their current or future course, Upper Iowa University will complete a Pell recalculation on the students account. The Pell Grant will be adjusted according to their current credits that they are enrolled. The Pell recalculation census date is the third Monday of the second session of each semester. Once this date has passed any changes to the student’s enrollment will not affect their Pell Grant.  

Fayette students who withdraw from any of their current or future courses will be subjected to a tuition adjustment completed by the Student Accounts office. Once the tuition adjustment is completed the financial aid office will adjusted any institutional aid including merit scholarships, institutional grants and athletic scholarships.  

  • Students will be billed for any aid adjustments that were caused by changes in their enrollment. 

Refund Policy 

If a student decides to withdrawal from the university before the end of the session/semester the student’s charges, financial aid, tuition assistance, and/or veteran benefits could be affected. Tuition, room and board are all independent from academic and financial aid deadlines. The students’ last date of attendance is the office withdrawal date that will be used when calculating the refund. All students should consult with the Business Office and Financial Aid Office to understand the financial impact of withdrawing prior to initiating the withdrawal policy.  

If a student withdrawals from Upper Iowa University, the institution charges from tuition will be refunded based on the refund table that can be found in the Upper Iowa University Academic Catalog.  

  • Student fees are non-refundable and will not be adjusted 

Return of Title IV Funds Calculation Examples

Example of a Title IV return of funds calculation for a Title IV recipient who is considered to have withdrawn:

$15.761.24 = Institutional Charges 

$6,707 = Title IV Loans
$3,525 = Title IV Grants 
$10,232 = Total Title IV aid  

Student withdrew on 54th day of a 117 day enrollment period. 

Percent Earned 54/117 = 46.2% 

Percent Unearned 100% – 46.2% = 53.8% 

Amount of Title IV aid earned $10,232 x 46.2% = $4727.18 

Unearned Title IV due to the school $4,420 x 92.9% = $4,106.18 

The total aid returned is the total Title IV aid that was disbursed less the Title IV earned aid  

$10,232 – $4,727.18 = $5,504.82 total amount to be returned  

UIU will return aid as follows: 

  • Title IV Loans $5,505 
  • Title IV Grants $0 

Example of a Title IV return of funds calculation for a Title IV recipient who is considered to have withdrawn: (Self-Paced Degree Program)

$4,420 = Institutional Charges 

$4,420 = Title IV Loans
$0 = Title IV Grants 
$4,420 = Total Title IV aid  

Student withdrew after completing 1 out of 14 assignments. 

Percent Earned 1/14 = 7.1% 

Percent Unearned 100% – 7.1% = 92.9% 

Amount of Title IV aid earned $4,420 x 7.1% = $313.82 

Unearned Title IV due to the school $4,420 x 92.9% = $4,106.18 

Amount for school to return: Compare the amount of Title IV aid to be returned ($4,106.18) to the amount of unearned charges ($4,106.18), and return the lesser amount.  

UIU will return aid as follows: 

  • Title IV Loans $4,107.00 
  • Title IV Grants $0