Withdrawals and Returning Financial Aid Funds
If you withdraw from all courses (100%), federal regulations require the Alamo Colleges District to prorate the amount of Title IV financial aid you have earned based upon the percentage of the semester that you have attended classes.
The regulations require the calculation be performed for every student who withdraws from all classes, and that a re-payment percentage be calculated until 60% of the semester has elapsed.
Withdrawing before the 60% mark means you will have to pay back a portion of your financial aid that was not earned.
Failure to repay these funds results in Financial Aid Holds that prevent future registration at any college or university.
Title IV Funds will be returned in the following order:
- Federal Direct Unsubsidized Loans
- Federal Direct Subsidized Loans
- Federal Direct PLUS Loans
- Federal Pell Grant
- Federal Supplemental Opportunity Grant (SEOG)
If you withdraw before financial aid is disbursed, financial aid amounts will be prorated according to federal regulations.
State, local, and institutional grants, loans, and scholarships are also subject to evaluation to assess impact of changes in enrollment status.
Dropping classes should always be avoided when possible. Doing so could require a portion or the entire amount of financial aid funds disbursed to be paid back, and also affects Satisfactory Academic Progress (SAP) status and possibly future financial aid eligibility.
Students needing to drop a class should consult a Financial Aid Advisor to discuss how this will affect SAP status or cause a potential overpayment or Return of Title IV Funds.
You are required to complete 66.66% of all courses attempted. Every time a class is dropped, it affects completion rate. Failure to maintain the 66.66% completion rate will result in being placed on Financial Aid Suspension.
If you withdraw from classes or a class gets cancelled for lack of enrollment, you may be required to pay back funds based on a reduced enrollment status. This is considered an OVERPAYMENT of federal funds. If funds are not paid back within 45 days, the Alamo Colleges District is required to report the overpayment to the US Department of Education and you will not be able to receive future aid until this overpayment is resolved.
Regulations require that a student receiving Federal student financial aid must begin academic work within the first 30 days of the period of enrollment.
If a student is reported by an instructor as not attending a resident course or not accessing an online course within the first 30 day of the period of enrollment, Student Financial Aid must adjust the student’s enrollment for financial aid eligibility purposes. This adjustment may result in a change to awarded financial aid and create a balance due by the student back to the College.
For fully online courses, an attendance verification activity is assigned and must be completed by the 3rd class day. For courses that are less than 5 weeks, the student is expected to complete the attendance activity on or before the Census Date.
Please reference the ‘Academic Standards’ section of your college catalog for more information.
