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Financial Aid
Student Withdrawal
and Return of Title IV Funds Policy
 In
accordance with federal regulations, when a federal
financial aid recipient withdraws from all classes
during a term, it is Ocean County College's (OCC)
responsibility to determine the withdrawal date
and amount of grant and/or loan assistance that
the student earned. If a student received less
assistance than what was earned, s/he may be able
to receive those funds. On the other hand, if
the student received more assistance than earned,
the unearned funds must be returned by the school
and/or aid recipient to the appropriate aid program.
Note: The return of Title IV funds calculation
is different from OCC's tuition
refund calculation.
Withdrawal Date
A student's withdrawal date varies depending on
the type of withdrawal.
Official Notification Provided by the Student
A student is considered officially withdrawn if
the Admissions and Records Office is notified
by the student in writing (e.g., completing an
Add/Drop Form), by phone, or online through WebAdvisor
of an intent to withdraw.
- If a student completes an Add/Drop form the
withdrawal date is the date the student submits
a completed form to the office.
- If a student sends written notification of
intent to withdraw, the withdrawal date is the
date the letter is received via postal mail,
electronic mail, or fax.
No Official Notification Provided by the Student
If a student ceases attendance without providing
official notification, the withdrawal date will
be the midpoint of the term, except that the College
may use the last day of attendance at an academically-related
activity, if documented by the College.
In the case when an official notification was
not provided by the student because of circumstances
beyond the student's control, i.e., illness, accident,
grievous personal loss or other circumstances,
the date related to the onset of that circumstance
will be used as the withdrawal date. This date
will be determined by the Refund Appeals Committee.
The College may always use as the withdrawal
date the date that is reported as the last date
of attendance at an academically related activity
by a faculty member on a class roster, grade roster/sheet,
or other documented source, e.g., grade book.
The faculty member will maintain the documentation
of the last date of attendance.
Date of Determination that
the Student Withdrew
The date of determination that a student withdrew
varies depending upon the type of withdrawal.
Official Notification Provided
The date the student provides OCC official notification
or begins the withdrawal process, whichever is later.
No Official Notification Provided
The date that OCC becomes aware that the student
has ceased attendance will be the date of determination.
This date will be identified no later than 30 days
after the end of a term.
During a term the Financial Aid Office will generate
every two weeks an Add/Drop/Withdraw report of
financial aid recipients' changes in enrollment
to monitor official withdrawals and faculty member
assignments of "W"s for excessive absence. At
the end of a term after the assignment of grades,
a report will be generated of all aid recipients
that received all or a combination of "W" status/grade,
"F" grade, "D" status, "X" status, and "C" status
after the beginning of the reporting term.
Calculation of Earned Title
IV Assistance
The amount of Title IV federal aid assistance
earned by the student is determined on a pro-rata
basis up to the end of 60% of the term. For example,
if the student completed 30% of a term, 30% of the
aid originally scheduled to be received would have
been earned. Once a student has completed more than
60% of a term, all awarded aid has been earned.
Pell Grant, SEOG Grant, Stafford Loans, and PLUS
loans are included in the calculation. Federal Work
Study funds are excluded.
Post-Withdrawal Disbursements
If the total amount of the Title IV grant and/or
loan assistance earned as of the withdrawal date
is more than the amount that was disbursed to the
student, the difference between the two amounts
will be treated as a post-withdrawal disbursement.
In the event that there are outstanding charges
on the student's account, OCC will credit the student's
account for all or part of the amount of the post-withdrawal
disbursement of grant assistance (not loan), up
to the amount of the allowable charges.
Any amount of a post-withdrawal disbursement
that is not credited to a student's account will
be offered to the student within 30 days of the
date that the institution determined that the
student withdrew. Upon receipt of a timely response
from the student, the College will disburse the
funds within 90 days of the date of determination
of the student's withdrawal date.
OCC maintains the right to decide whether or
not to make a post-withdrawal disbursement in
the event that the student responds after 14 days
of the date that the notification was sent. If
the College 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 grant and/or
loan assistance that was earned as of the withdrawal
date is less than the amount that was disbursed
to the student, the difference between the two
amounts will be returned to the Title IV program(s)
and no further disbursements 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
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