Refund Process for Students Receiving Federal Title IV Financial Aid (R2T4)
(Federal Pell Grant, Supplemental Educational Opportunity Grant)
The U.S. Department of Education (DOE) specifies how Chattahoochee Technical College must determine the amount of Title IV program assistance that you earn if you withdraw from the semester or stop attending all of your courses for a term. Chattahoochee Tech's Title IV programs that are covered by this regulation include Federal Pell Grants and Federal Supplemental Educational Opportunity Grants (SEOGs).
When you withdraw or stop attending all courses during your period of enrollment (term in which you are registered), the amount of Title IV program assistance that you have earned up to that point is determined by a specific formula. If you received (or Chattahoochee Tech received on your behalf) less assistance than the amount that you earned, you may be able to receive those additional funds. If you received more assistance than you earned, the excess funds must be returned to U.S. DOE.
You cannot receive federal aid for the full semester if you were not enrolled in class(es) for the full semester. We disburse funds to students assuming they are going to remain enrolled for the full semester. If you withdraw or otherwise stop attending, with no regard for the reason(s) of such action/inaction, the amount of assistance (aid) that you have earned is determined on a 'prorata basis'. For example, if you completed 50 percent or less of your period of enrollment, you earn 50 percent of the assistance you were originally scheduled to receive. Once you have completed more than 60 percent of the period of enrollment, you earn all the assistance that you were scheduled to receive for that period. Enrollment between 50 percent to 60 percent will earn the exact percentage of what enrollment is completed.
If you did not receive all of the funds that you 'earned', you may be due a post-withdrawal disbursement. Chattahoochee Tech will automatically use all or a portion of your post-withdrawal disbursement of grant funds for tuition and fees. The school needs your permission to use the post-withdrawal grant disbursement for all other school charges (fees not automatically paid with financial aid funds). If you do not give your permission, you will be offered the funds. However, it may be in your best interest to allow Chattahoochee Tech to utilize the funds to reduce your debt at the school. There may be some Title IV funds that you were scheduled to receive that cannot be disbursed to you once you withdraw or stop attending because of other eligibility requirements.
If you (or Chattahoochee Tech on your behalf) receive excess Title IV program funds that must be returned, your school must return a portion of the excess equal to the lesser of:
your institutional charges multiplied by the unearned percentage of your funds, or
the entire amount of excess funds.
Any amount of unearned grant funds that must be returned is called an overpayment. Chattahoochee Tech returns on your behalf any funds to U.S. DOE for which you were not entitled. However, at the same time, the college charges those funds to your student account (bills you for what had to be returned). This balance must be resolved/paid by the student before future registration/enrollment can occur, before a student may receive transcripts or enrollment verification, etc. In some cases, student balances are referred to U.S. DOE or outside collection agencies.
The requirements for Title IV program funds when you withdraw or stop attending all courses for a term are separate from the Institutional Policy [see Refund Policy (Institutional) section]. Therefore, you may still owe funds to the school to cover unpaid institutional charges. Chattahoochee Tech will charge you for any Title IV program funds that the school was required to return. Remember, per institutional policy, we are charging you 100% tuition/fees after the drop/add period of the term --as if you will complete the term. A withdrawal does not reduce your tuition/fees due after drop/add.
Unofficial Withdrawals: As a college, Chattahoochee Tech does not have an official attendance policy after the 'no show' period has ended. However, just like previously stated, you cannot receive aid for a term's worth of work if you weren't present to do work during that full term. Someone who simply disappears or chooses to stop attending but fails to withdraw is considered an "unofficial withdrawal". Any student who unofficially withdraws (stops attending class(es)) will have his or her aid recalculated based on this federal policy. This recalculation will likely result in the student being required to return unearned federal funds to the college. As well, official and unofficial withdrawals negatively affect a student's SAP and could result in the loss of future funding. Students with balances due to the college will have their student accounts placed on hold--preventing transcripts, registration, etc.
If you have questions about your Title IV program funds, please contact the Financial Aid Office. You may also contact the Federal Student Aid Information Center at 1-800-4-FEDAID (1-800-433-3243). TTY users may call 1-800-730-8913.