Federal Title IV Refund Policy
Federal Title IV Refund Policy
When a student who receives Federal Student Aid funds withdraws from the PTSA prior to completing 60% of a payment period (Fall and Spring Semesters), the student – after the return calculation – may be required to return a portion of the received Aid within 45 days of the student withdrawing.
A return is only required of those students who withdraw from the school/who cease to be enrolled. A student who reduced his/her course load is considered a reduction and not a withdrawal. A return calculation is not required for such students.
The required calculation determines a student’s earned and unearned Title IV aid based on the percentage of the enrollment period completed by the student. The percentage of the period that the student remained enrolled is derived by dividing the number of days the student attended by the number of days in the enrollment period.
If the withdrawal date is after the 60% point in the payment period or period of enrollment, a student is considered to have earned 100% of the Title IV funds he or she was scheduled to receive during the period. For such a student there are no unearned funds. PTSA will still complete a return calculation in order to determine whether the student is eligible for a post-withdrawal disbursement.
PTSA must determine the student’s withdrawal date. The withdrawal date is defined as:
- The date the student began the withdrawal process or officially notified PTSA of his/her intent to withdraw; or
- The last date of attendance at an academically-related activity by a student who does not notify PTSA.
Based on the date of the withdrawal, the Financial Aid Office will determine the actual date of the student’s withdrawal and, using the Return of Title IV form provided by the Department of Education, they will calculate the amount, if any, the student must return. The student will then be notified by mail of the amount the Federal Student Financial Aid stated that they must return. In some cases, both the school and the student may be required to return unused or unearned portions of Federal Aid to the Federal Title IV program.
Overpayments and Over-awards
There are times when a student’s award package exceeds the student’s need. There may be circumstances that change a student’s award package after the aid has been awarded that result in an overpayment. For example, a student may receive a scholarship or grant from an outside source or organization, or the student may want to extend his or her work-study employment. In case of overpayments or over-awards the PTSA financial aid office will need to make adjustments to the other Federal Student Financial Aid in the package.
Pell Grants are never adjusted to take into account other forms of aid. Therefore, the adjustments will be made to the Stafford Loans and/or Campus-Based programs.
Students who owe funds due to overpayment or over-award will be required to make payment of those funds within 30 days of receiving a written notice from the Financial Aid office.
Student can send in the overpayment or over-award to the PTSA and the payment will be forwarded to the U.S. Department of Education. If a student is unable to pay their overpayment in full, they can set up a repayment plan with the U.S. Department of Education. Before doing this, they must contact the PTSA Financial Aid Office. They will need to make sure we have referred their situation to the U.S. Department of Education before any repayment plan can be set up.
If the student whose overpayment case has been accepted by the Department of Education wishes to establish a repayment schedule, the student should contact Borrower Services by calling 1-800-621-3115 or write to:
U.S. Department of Education
Borrower Services – Default Resolution
P.O. Box 5609
Greenville, Texas 75403
For examples of the Return of Title IV Funds calculations or questions regarding the overpayment policy, please contact the Financial Aid Office.
Financial Aid Director: Sunny Kim (email: fsa@ptsa.edu, tel: 562-926-1023 ext. 302)
* Related Links :
– Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) : https://fafsa.ed.gov/
– US Department of Education: http://www.ed.gov/