Return Of Funds Policy For Title IV Financial Aid Recipients

The term “Title IV Funds” refers to the federal financial aid programs authorized under the Higher Education Act of 1965 (as amended) and includes the following programs at Crowder College: Federal Pell Grant, Academic Competitiveness Grant, Federal Supplemental Educational Opportunity Grant, and Federal Family Educational Loan.

Federal regulations require each educational institution participating in the Title IV Financial Aid Programs to have a written policy for the refund and repayment of federal aid received by a student during a term for which payment has been, or could have been, received. These policies are effective only if the student completely terminates their enrollment by official withdrawal, is dismissed from classes, or stops attending classes without an official withdrawal, before completing more than sixty percent of the enrollment period.

Crowder College Institutional Refund Policy
The amount of the refund of institutional fees for those students who officially withdraw will be calculated as outlined in the college class schedule. This is a separate policy from the Return of Funds Policy.

Return of Funds Policy
The amount of Title IV aid that a student must repay is determined through the Federal Formula for Return of Title IV Funds as specified in Section 484B of the Higher Education Act. This law also specifies the order of return of the Title IV funds to the programs from which they were awarded.

A repayment of Title IV funds will be required when aid has been disbursed to a student from financial aid funds in excess of the amount of aid the student earned during the term. The amount of Title IV aid earned is determined by multiplying the total Title IV aid as listed above, for which the student qualified, by the percentage of time during the term that the student was enrolled. If less aid was disbursed than was earned, the student may receive a late disbursement for the difference. If more aid was disbursed than was earned, the amount of Title IV aid that must be returned (i.e., that was unearned) is determined by subtracting the earned amount from the amount actually disbursed.

Under this policy, the students withdrawal date will be determined to be either the date the student began the institutions official withdrawal process, the student’s last date of attendance at an academically related activity, or the midpoint of the enrollment period for a student who leaves without notifying the institution.

The responsibility for returning unearned aid is allocated between the college and the student. The allocation is calculated according to the portion of disbursed aid that could have been used to cover institutional charges and the portion that could have been disbursed directly to the student once institutional charges were covered. Crowder will distribute the institutional portion of the unearned aid back to the Title IV programs as specified by law. The student will be notified of their portion due back to the various aid programs. The student will also be notified of any balance due the college, which must be taken care of immediately to avoid collection action.

Crowder will notify the Department of Education and/or the student’s lender of all amounts due from the student. It will be the student’s responsibility to make arrangements for repayment with the Department of Education and/or the holder of their student loan. Noncompliance on the student’s part will result in the student being ineligible to receive future Title IV assistance.

Examples of the Return of Funds Policy can be obtained from the Crowder College Financial Aid Office.

Order of return of funds
Unsubsidized Federal Family Educational Loan
Subsidized Federal Family Educational Loan
Federal Pell Grant
Federal Supplemental Educational Opportunity Grant

Financial Aid Office - located on the 2nd floor, Newton Hall 417-451-3223 Ext. 5434