Title IV aid is any federal aid that was awarded to a student as a result of the completion of the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA). Northeast State Community College (NeSCC) participates in the following Title IV programs:

• Federal Pell Grant
• Iraq and Afghanistan Service Grant (IASG)
• Federal Supplemental Educational Opportunity Grant (FSEOG)

NeSCC does not participate in the following Title IV programs:

• Direct Unsubsidized Loans
• Direct Subsidized Loans
• Direct PLUS
• The Teacher Education Assistance for College and Higher Education (TEACH)

Grant Withdrawal and Return of Title IV Funds Policy

Students who have received (or who are eligible to receive) federal financial aid and who are determined to have officially or unofficially withdrawn from their classes prior to the 60% point in a semester, or payment period, are subject to a recalculation of their awards based on the amount of aid earned. A student is considered to be an official withdrawal if they notify the college of their withdrawal and receive W’s for all classes. A student is considered to be an unofficial withdrawal when they have been reported as receiving all “FA” grades or a combination of “FA”, “W”, “AU”, and “I” grades for the term. As NeSCC is not an attendance taking institution, the “FA” grade is determined by the instructor based on the college’s attendance policy.

Recalculation of Title IV Aid

Anytime a student begins attendance in at least one course but does not begin attendance in all the courses the student was scheduled to attend, regardless of whether the student is a withdrawal, we must determine if it is necessary to recalculate the student’s eligibility for Title IV aid based on a revised enrollment status and cost of attendance. If the student is a withdrawal, this recalculation is done before performing an R2T4 calculation and the recalculated amounts of aid are used in the R2T4 calculation.

Unearned Funds

The amount of aid earned is determined by the number of days the student attended prior to withdrawing from classes or ceasing attendance. Any financial aid funds received by the student in excess of the earned amount must be repaid to NeSCC. NeSCC will return unearned funds to the appropriate federal program(s) on the student’s behalf. Unearned funds are allocated to the Title IV programs for which the student received assistance in the following order:

• Federal Pell Grant
• IASG
• FSEOG

Disbursement of Aid

NeSCC disburses funds after the census date (14th calendar day of classes) based on engagement. By the census date for each term instructors are required to confirm that a student began attendance (actively engaged) in each course. If there are enrollment changes during the first 14 days, aid is adjusted accordingly. Students are responsible for any balance on their account created by the enrollment changes. Changes after the census date may or may not impact a student’s aid. This must be reviewed on a case-by-case basis, depending on the type of aid a student is awarded.

NeSCC will retain all tuition and fee charges if the student withdraws after the college’s refund period. NeSCC will adjust tuition and fee charges as appropriate if the student withdraws during the refund period. There may be instances where a student withdraws before the census date of the term and before financial aid has been applied to their account. In these cases, the Financial Aid Office will perform the R2T4 calculation and pay the student the amount of Title IV aid they earned within 45 days of the student’s withdrawal determination date. This is known as a post-withdrawal disbursement.

Post Withdrawal Disbursements

If it is determined that a withdrawn student is eligible for Title IV grant funds that have not been disbursed, NeSCC will disburse the funds within 45 days from the student’s withdrawal determination date. Federal grant aid that the student is eligible for will be credited to the student’s account for outstanding charges or refunded to the student as applicable. If the grant disbursement generates a credit balance on the student’s account, the credit balance will be refunded to the student within 3 to 5 business days. NeSCC does not participate in the Title IV loan programs, therefore contacting a student regarding loan offers is not applicable.

Overpayment Resolution

NeSCC will return funds on behalf of a student who owes an overpayment and consider the returned funds as the student’s debt to the institution.

Leave of Absence (LOA)

A leave of absence refers to a temporary interruption in a student’s studies. The Department of Education does not mandate that institutions have a LOA policy. NeSCC does not have a LOA policy and therefore does not recognize a LOA.

Determining a Withdrawal

At Northeast State Community College, students may withdraw through the Office of Admissions & Records, or by dropping all of their classes online.

Official Withdrawals

A student is considered to have withdrawn if they have not completed all of the days in the payment period they were scheduled to complete regardless of the program format. To locate these students, financial aid staff will run the Official Title IV Withdrawal Report and the Purge Report throughout the semester, ideally once per week. Using these reports, staff will identify students who have withdrawn or who have been purged from all courses and use the maximum date on the report as the Last Date of Attendance (LDA) for the R2T4 calculation. Staff will check the report for any students who were registered in modules, determine if they have withdrawn, and separate these students for R2T4 processing.

The Date of Determination that will be used when calculating R2T4 for official withdrawals is the date the student notified NeSCC of their withdrawal either through the Request to Withdraw Form or through a withdrawal done via the student portal.

Unofficial Withdrawals

At the end of each semester the Registrar’s Office will notify the Financial Aid Office once all grades have been entered and rolled. The Financial Aid Office will then run the Unofficial Title IV Withdrawals Report to identify students who ceased attending all courses throughout the semester but did not officially withdraw or drop all their courses. These students can have all FA’s or a combination of W’s, FA’s, AU’s, and I’s.

The Date of Determination used when calculating R2T4 for unofficial withdrawals is the date grades roll to history and post to the student’s account. The Assistant Director of Financial Aid will receive an email from the Registrar with this date at the end of each semester.

Module Definitions and Requirements

If a course does not span the entire length of the payment period, it is considered a module. If the student ceases attendance before the period for which aid was awarded and does not meet any of the R2T4 exemptions, it is a withdrawal. If some courses in the program for a particular payment period span the entire length of the period, but some courses do not, the program is considered to be offered in modules only for those students who are scheduled to attend at least one course that does not span the entire length of the period, and subsequently withdraw during the period. NeSCC does not use an R2T4 Freeze Date (RFD) when processing calculations for students enrolled in modules.

R2T4 Exemptions

• The student successfully completed one module or a combination of modules with a combined length of at least 49 percent of the number of countable days in the payment period. To calculate the percentage of the payment period completed the college will divide the days in the module(s) that were successfully completed by the countable days in the period (countable days include all days in the payment period, excluding scheduled breaks of five or more consecutive days, if the break applies to all students who enroll in the period; and excluding the days between the modules in the payment period when no coursework is taking place); or
• The student successfully completed coursework comprising at least half-time status, according to the college’s definition of half-time status; or
• The student provided written confirmation of attendance in a later module that begins later in the payment period and within 45 days of the end of the module for which the student withdrew. This written confirmation must be provided as close as possible to the date that the student ceased attendance and before the time when the college is required to perform the return to Title IV calculation, offer a post-withdrawal disbursement, or take any other action under R2T4 requirements. The college cannot assume a student will attend a future module based on existing registration; or
• The student completed all requirements for graduation.

Example of Return to Title IV Calculation:

Full Term Enrollment Only (start date August through end date December)

Andrea enrolled for 12 credits, full term, fall semester; All classes started August 27 and ended December 15; There are 111 calendar days in the semester; Tuition and fees are $2,124; Andrea received a total of $3,448 (Federal PELL $3,048 and FSEOG $400).

• If Andrea totally withdraws/stops attending September 20 – they completed 25 days; 22% of the term was completed. Northeast State would have to return $1,657 to the Federal Pell Grant program; Andrea would have to repay $0 to the U.S. Department of Education. Andrea would owe Northeast State $1,656.
• If Andrea totally withdraws/stops attending on November 6 – they completed 72 days; 64% of the term was completed; no refunds or repayments are due.

NOTE: Students are responsible for making any federal grant repayments. THEY MUST ALSO REPAY NORTHEAST STATE FOR ANY FUNDS RETURNED TO THE U.S. DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION ON THEIR BEHALF. Students may submit a written appeal for a refund to the school’s Business Office for extenuating circumstances surrounding their withdrawal from school. For more information about the college’s refund policy, please see the Refunds section of our website.