Federal regulations require that should recipients of federal financial aid fail to complete a term of attendance for which they received federal student aid, the institution will be required to calculate the amount of financial aid that the student is allowed to keep according to federal withdrawal formulas, which basically prorates the amount a student is allowed to keep in general proportion to the amount of time that was spent attending school. The return of funds is based on a pro-rated schedule that calculates the amount of Title IV funding the student earned before he or she either stopped attending or completely withdrew from classes. Earned aid is determined based on the number of calendar days attended in the term divided by the total number of calendar days in the term. The result is a percentage of federal funds that the student is entitled to keep. For example, a student who has attended 20% of the term has earned 20% of the total aid that was disbursed. If the student does not attend beyond the 60% point of the term, he or she will be required to return the unearned portion of his or her Title IV funding.
Students who wish to completely withdraw from a term should contact their Academic Advisor to complete the withdrawal process. A student’s official withdrawal date will be the date the student contacted the advisor.
Students who do not earn a passing grade (fails all classes) during a term will be reviewed to determine if the failure was due to not attending class. A student is considered to have unofficially withdrawn if he or she ceases attendance prior to the end of the semester. The last date of attendance (provided by instructors) will be used to determine if a Return of Title IV Funds calculation is necessary.
According to federal regulations, federal funds must be returned to federal programs based on the percent of the term remaining after a student is no longer enrolled unless the student has completed more than 60% of the term. If the student has completed more than 60% of the term, no return of federal funds is required. The portion of unearned aid is returned in the following order:
- Federal Unsubsidized Direct Loan
- Federal Subsidized Direct Loan
- Federal Direct Graduate/Parent PLUS Loan
- Federal Pell Grant
- Federal Supplemental Educational Opportunity Grant (SEOG)
- Federal Iraq and Afghanistan Service Grants
- Federal TEACH Grant
Chaminade University is required to return, on behalf of the student, the balance of “unearned aid” to the federal programs. The return of funds must take place within 45 days of determining that a withdrawal has occurred. Work-study wages earned are not included in the return of federal financial aid calculation. The student must repay any funds required by the calculation that exceeds the school’s portion of the return. Any amount to be returned to Federal loan programs will be repaid by the borrower in accordance with the terms of the loan promissory note. If the return of funds calculation results in a credit balance on the student’s account, a refund will be issued to the student within 14 days of the calculation.
Federal financial aid awarded to a student but not disbursed at the time of withdrawal will be reviewed to see if a post-withdrawal disbursement can be made. Eligible grant funds will be disbursed to the student’s account within 45 days. Loan funds will be offered to a student within 30 days. Students can accept or reject the student loan portion of the award. The student will have 14 days to respond with a decision to accept the student loan. Funds will be applied to the student account with any credit balance being refunded to the student within 14 days of the credit balance being created.
Students are advised that should they ever receive federal student aid for any term of attendance at Chaminade and subsequently fail to complete the term they must be sure to conduct an exit interview with the Chaminade University’s Financial Aid (see contact information below) to be apprised of the impact on their financial aid.
Office of Financial Aid
3140 Waialae Avenue
Clarence T.C. Ching Hall, Room 11
Honolulu, HI 96816
Email: finaid@chaminade.edu
Phone: (808) 735-4780
Fax: (808) 739-8362
