Return to Title IV Calculations

Students who withdraw from one or more courses, and those who receive Ws, WPs, WFs or ‘F” grades for the term, may be required to repay some portion of the student aid funds they received during the term. It is important for students to be aware of their financial responsibilities when withdrawing from and/or failing classes.

Federal financial aid regulations have created a Return of Title IV Funds Policy. This policy states that students who withdraw or cease attendance; and those who fail or have a combination of all failing grades during a term will be reviewed to determine if their financial aid awards should be reduced. Upon withdrawal, the Financial Aid Office will calculate, from the number of days in the term that the student was enrolled prior to withdrawal, the percentage of the term that the student completed. This percentage will be applied to the amount of aid received for the term with the student being able to retain only the amount of aid for the percentage of the term actually completed. The unearned portion of the financial aid award must be returned to the federal, programs that have been awarded. If excess financial aid funds have been refunded to the student, a portion of these funds may also need to be returned to the financial aid programs awarded. This may result in student owing a funds to both Columbus Technical College and the US Department of Education.

Unofficial Withdrawals:  As a college, Columbus Tech does not have an official attendance policy after the 'no show' period has ended. However, students cannot receive aid for a term's worth of work if they were not present to do work during that full term. A student who earns all Fs in a given term or a combination of Fs and Ws (meaning the student withdrew from a class) may be considered an ‘unofficial withdrawal’. Unofficial withdrawals are those who cease attending class(es). Faculty must enter a last date of attendance for students who earn a grade of ‘F’ for the class.  Once grades are submitted and faculty rosters are verified at the end of a term, unofficial withdrawals (those who earned the F due to ceasing participation) may be required to return unearned federal funds to the college and/or the U.S. Department of Education. Students who truly earned Fs that were not due to ceasing attendance are not considered to have withdrawn; therefore, those students’ aid is not recalculated for the class(es) in question. As well, official and unofficial withdrawals negatively affect a student's SAP and could result in the loss of future funding.

COVID-19 Guidance:

• Any student who begins attendance in a payment period or period of enrollment that begins on or includes March 13, 2020, and subsequently withdraws from the period as a result of COVID-19-related circumstances, an institution is not required to return Title IV funds.  This Return to Title IV Waiver is granted through December 31st, 2020, or through the last date of the national emergency.

It is strongly recommended that students check with either Financial Aid or the CARE Center before withdrawing, in order to determine how this will impact their financial aid.