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What happens when I withdraw from classes?

In accordance with Federal Government Regulations, when a Federal Financial Aid recipient withdraws from all classes during a term, it is Ocean County College's responsibility to determine the withdrawal date and amount of financial aid they have earned. This may result in an overpayment of financial aid funds and a bill owed to the School.

How do you determine how much aid I have earned?

During a term, the Ocean County College financial aid office will generate a report on a bi-weekly basis of student's who had a change in enrollment status.
At the end of a term, the Ocean County College financial aid office will generate a report of all aid recipients that received all or a combination of 'w' status, 'F' grade, 'D' status and 'C' status after the beginning of the reporting term.

The amount of Title IV federal aid assistance (grants/loans) earned by the student is then determined on a pro-rata basis up to the end of 60% of the term. This is known as a Return of Title IV Funds calculation.*
For example, if a student has completed 30% of the term then 30% of the aid originally awarded would have been earned.

*The return of Title IV Funds calculation is different from OCCs tuition refund calculation.

How do you determine my withdrawal date?

There are several types of withdrawal used to determine a student's withdrawal date;

• Official withdrawal: A student is considered "officially withdrawn" if the Ocean County College Admissions and Records office is notified of an intent to withdraw either in writing (Add/Drop Form), by phone, or online through Ocean Cruiser.
  
• Unofficial Withdrawal: If a student stops attending class(es) without providing official notification.
• Medical: In the case when an official notification of intent to withdraw was not provided because of circumstances beyond the student's control (illness, accident, personal loss etc.) In this instance, a student can appeal an unofficial withdrawal determination to the Refund Appeals Committee.

The date of determination that a student withdrew varied depending upon the type of withdrawal;

• Official withdrawal: The date the student provides OCC official notification or begins the withdrawal process, whichever is later.
• Unofficial Withdrawal: The date that OCC becomes aware that the student has stopped attending class(es) will be determined as the date of withdrawal. This date will be determined no later then 30 days after the end of a term.

What happens if my financial aid has been disbursed before my withdrawal?

Post Withdrawal Disbursement
If the total amount of your Title IV federal aid assistance (grants/loans) 'earned' as of your withdrawal date is more than the amount that was disbursed, the difference between the two amounts will be treated as a post-withdrawal disbursement.
In the event that there are outstanding charges on your account, OCC will credit the account for all or part of the post-withdrawal disbursement amount (not including loans), up to the amount of the allowable charges.

Any post-withdrawal disbursement amount that is not credited to your account will be offered to you within 30 days of the date that you were determined to have withdrawn. Upon receipt of a timely response from you, the College will disburse the funds within 90 days of the the date you were determined to have withdrawn.

Ocean County College maintains the right to decide whether or not to make a post-withdrawal disbursement in the event that you respond after 14 days days of the date that the notification was sent. If OCC decides not to make this post-withdrawal disbursement, it will inform the student in writing.

Return of Unearned Funds to Title IV
If the total amount of Title IV federal aid assistance (grants/loans) 'earned' as of your withdrawal date is less than the amount that was disbursed, the difference between the two amounts will be returned to the Title IV program(s) and no further disbursement will be made.

By the College
If a student has received excess funds, the College must return a portion of the excess equal to the lesser of:

The student's institutional charges multiplied by the unearned percentage of funds, or

The entire amount of the excess funds.

The funds will be returned in the order below as prescribed by federal regulations, within 30 days from the date of determination that a student withdrew.

• Unsubsidized Federal Stafford Loans
• Subsidized Federal Stafford Loans
• Federal PLUS loans
• Federal Pell Grants
• Academic Competitiveness Grant
• Federal Supplemental Educational Opportunity Grants (FSEOG)

By the Student
In the event that there is remaining unearned aid, the student is responsible for returning those funds. If the aid to be returned is in the form of a loan that has been released to the student (or parent if a PLUS loan) borrower, the student (or parent) can repay the loan in accordance with the terms of the promissory note over a period of the time. If the aid to be returned is in the form of grant funds, the law provides that the student may repay 50% of a federal grant rather than 100%. The College will return the student's grant obligation to the appropriate federal program.

Both the school's portion and the student's portion of unearned aid returned to programs will be charged back to the student's account, as provided for in federal regulations.

The return of Title IV funds is separate from the College's tuition refund policy. The following provides an example of the treatment of a withdrawal from OCC, tuition refund, and return of Title IV funds.

Example of a Refund of Tuition and Return of Title IV Financial Aid