Federal Regulation 34 CFR 668.22 specifies how a school must determine the amount of Title IV program assistance you earn if you withdraw from school. The Title IV programs offered by the university that are covered by this law are as follows: Federal Pell Grants, Iraq and Afghanistan Service Grants, TEACH Grants, Direct Loans, Direct PLUS Loans, Federal Supplemental Educational Opportunity Grants (FSEOG), and Federal Perkins Loans.

Types of Withdrawals Heading link

There are two types of withdrawals, official withdrawals and unofficial withdrawals.

  • The official withdrawal date is determined by the Registrar’s Department based on when a student drops all of their classes, or notifies a university official of their intent to withdraw. In the case of module courses, if a student drops all future or current modules after completing a module, the withdrawal date is the last date of academic participation.
  • Unofficial withdrawals are students who failed all of their classes per the grades reported at the end of each semester. UIC’s F or U grade policy requires that all F and U grades be reported by the professor with the last date of attendance.

Return to Title IV Heading link

The “Return to Title IV” calculation has several steps. Below is the pertinent information involved in the calculation.

  • The school determines the amount of Title IV financial aid that has been disbursed to your account versus the amount of Title IV financial aid that could have been disbursed to your account. In most cases the full amount of aid will have disbursed. In the instance that your aid has not been disbursed you may be eligible for a post-withdrawal disbursement.
  • The school determines the amount of time you attended versus the total days of the semester. Breaks of five or more days during the semester are removed from the total days of the semester.  The calculation is represented as a percentage of aid the student has earned.
  • The school multiplies the percentage of aid earned by the total amount of disbursed aid and aid that could have disbursed.  This is the amount of aid the student has earned.
  • The school takes the amount of aid the student has earned and subtracts it from the total aid disbursed for the student. This is the amount of aid the student has not earned.
  • The school determines the amount of institutional charges that have been applied to the students account. This amount is multiplied by the percentage of aid earned. This is the amount of unearned institutional charges.
  • The school reviews the amount of unearned aid versus the amount of unearned institutional charges, which is done within 30 days from the date the school determined the student withdrew (officially and unofficially). The lesser of the numbers is the amount of aid that is returned. The school has 45 days from the date the school determined the student withdrew (officially and unofficially) to return this amount. The least desirable aid is returned first, in ascending order of desirability as follows:
  1. Federal Direct Unsubsidized Loan
  2. Federal Direct Subsidized Loan
  3. Federal Perkins Loan
  4. Federal Direct PLUS Loan
  5. Federal Pell Grant
  6. Federal Supplemental Educational Opportunity Grant  (FSEOG)
  7. Federal TEACH Grant
  8. Iraq and Afghanistan Service Grant
  9. Other Federal, State, Private, or Institutional Aid

If the R2T4 calculation results in a credit balance on the student’s account, it will be disbursed as soon as possible and no later than 14 days after the calculation of the R2T4.

If a student did not receive all of the funds earned, the student may be eligible for a post-withdrawal disbursement. If the post-withdrawal disbursement includes loan funds, the school is required to get the student’s permission before these can be disbursed. Loans must be offered to the student within 30 days, allowing the student at least 14 days to respond to accept or decline the funds. Once the permission is received, the school must make the post-withdrawal disbursement of Title IV loans within 180 days of the school’s determination that the student withdrew. The student may decide to decline some or all of the loan funds so additional debt is not incurred. The school may use all or a portion of the post-withdrawal disbursement of grant funds for tuition, fees, and room and meal plan charges. The school is required to get the student’s permission for any post-withdrawal grant disbursement for all other school charges. If the student does not give permission, the student will be offered the grant funds. The school must make the post-withdrawal disbursement of grants within 45 days of the school’s determination that the student withdrew. Please note, there are some Title IV funds that may be scheduled to be received and cannot be disbursed to the student after withdrawal because of other eligibility requirements.

The federal refund formula is rather complex. If you need to withdraw from all of your classes, you are encouraged to speak to a financial aid advisor before doing so to determine how it may affect your financial aid and your Satisfactory Academic Progress.