Withdrawal & Return of Funds Policy

The Department of Education requires United Tribes Technical College to maintain and publish a written policy regarding federal financial aid recipients who withdraw or otherwise fail to complete the term for which their financial aid was disbursed.

Federal financial aid funds (Title IV Funds) are awarded to a student under the assumption that the student will attend school for the entire period for which the assistance is awarded. When a student withdraws, they may no longer be eligible for the full amount of Title IV funds that they were originally scheduled to receive.

Up through the 60% point in each payment period or period of enrollment (including summer), a prorated schedule is used to determine the amount of Title IV Funds the student has earned at the time of withdrawal. After the 60% point in the payment period or period of enrollment, federal regulations affirm that a student has earned 100% of the Title IV funds they were scheduled to receive during the period. For a student who withdraws after the 60% point-in-time, there are no unearned funds. If a recipient of Title IV grant or loan funds withdraws from a school after beginning attendance, the amount of Title IV grant or loan assistance earned by the student must be determined. If the amount disbursed to the student is greater than the amount the student earned, unearned funds must be returned.

Students who wish to withdraw from all courses after the semester start date must officially withdraw to zero credits.

For a Voluntary withdrawal, a Withdrawal Form is completed with the student’s Instructor and/or Advisor and signatures are obtained from the Student, Instructor and/or Advisor, and Academic & Personal Counselor. The form will be given to the Registrar’s office who will complete the actual withdrawal immediately. Copies are then sent via email to the student, the Vice Presidents, and Financial Aid.

For an Involuntary withdrawal, it can be initiated by the Instructor and/or Advisor or Student Accounts by completing a Withdrawal form. The form is then sent to the Advisor, Academic & Personal Counselor, and the VP Academics or VP of Student Services depending on who originally initiates the withdrawal. The form will be given to the Registrar’s office and who will hold the form for 5 business days while the student is notified. Once the 5 business days have passed and if the student hasn’t completed a successful appeal, the Registrar will complete the actual withdrawal. Copies are then sent via email to the student, the Vice Presidents, and Financial Aid.

For Financial Aid purposes, the date of withdrawal will be the last date of attendance regardless of the date the withdrawal process is completed and all parties involved are notified of the student’s intent to withdraw(voluntary or involuntary) to zero credits where a grade has not been earned.

The amount of aid earned is calculated by dividing the number of calendar days from the beginning of the term to the point of withdrawal by the total number of days in the term. This percentage is multiplied by the amount of federal financial aid that was awarded and accepted for the term and becomes the amount of aid that was earned. This is subtracted from the amount of aid disbursed and the balance becomes the amount of unearned aid that must be returned. Responsibility for repayment of these funds will be shared by UTTC and the student, according to policies and procedures contained within the federal formula for prorated refunds of unearned Title IV Aid.

In compliance with federal regulations, a school must return Title IV funds to the programs from which the student received aid during the payment period or period of enrollment as applicable, in the following order, up to the net amount disbursed from each source:

• Unsubsidized Direct loans
• Subsidized Direct loans
• Federal Pell Grants
• Federal Supplemental Educational Opportunity Grants (FSEOG)

Federal Work-Study funds paid to recipients will not be included in the computation of earned Title IV aid, nor will these funds be refunded to the federal account from which they were paid.

Unearned Title IV grants and loan funds due from UTTC will be repaid to the federal accounts for the specified semester. Unearned portions of Title IV grant aid due from the student will also be repaid to the federal accounts by UTTC. All repayments made by UTTC pursuant to this policy will be charged to your student account.

In the absence of an official withdrawal and the student ceases attendance, the following procedures will apply.

1. A list of students who received all F’s, I’s or U’s for a term (period of enrollment) will be:
   • extracted from the Registrar’s Office records.
2. Class instructors will be asked to document the last known date of an academically related activity for the student, i.e., an exam, daily assignment, attendance in class, etc.
3. If the latest date any instructor can document is after the 60% point in the enrollment period, the student is considered to have earned 100% of their financial aid funds and no further action will be required. If the latest date is before the 60% point in the term, the latest documented date will be used as the last date of attendance by the student. If documentation indicates no attendance in any class, the student will be deemed ineligible for financial aid per federal regulations and required to repay all aid received for that semester.
4. Based on the last date of attendance, a Return of Title IV funds calculation will be processed to determine the type(s) and amount(s) of financial aid to be returned.
5. All financial aid funds to be returned will be the responsibility of the student.
6. An unofficial withdrawal letter will be mailed to the student notifying them of their obligation at the time the institution returns the financial aid funds.
7. Student Accounts will place a hold on the student’s account at UTTC. Institutional collection procedures will be followed in accordance with UTTC’s policies.
8. Students will also be placed Satisfactory Academic Progress (SAP) following the term in which they receive all F’s, I’s or U’s.