Withdrawals

The effective college withdrawal date is established based upon whether the student withdraws officially or unofficially. An official college withdrawal occurs when a student completes the college process to withdraw. For an official withdrawal, the effective date is the date the student starts the college withdraw or notifies an appropriate office of their intent to withdraw. 

Withdrawing from All Courses (official)

Students that officially withdraw from the entire semester may result in a balance owed to the college that was previously covered by financial aid. Students receive their financial aid under the assumption they will complete the semester. Students that do not complete the semester must have their aid re-calculated to determine how much they earned. Any unearned aid must be returned to the federal government, thereby creating a balance owed to the college. Students that do not pay this balance will have a hold placed on their account. 

Students should be referred to the Record’s Office if they are thinking of withdrawing from the entire semester.  There is a required document for the student to complete as well as the Business Office, Financial Aid and Registrar.  This will give each department time to counsel the student on what their rights are for financial aid, grades, balances and returning.

Students that withdraw from a single class but remain enrolled in others usually do not require a re-calculation of their aid, but it could impact the current semester or next semester’s aid.  

Emergency (Medical) Withdrawal

Students that leave the college due to an emergency withdrawal are still considered “withdrawn” for financial aid purposes. Therefore, all the rules for withdrawing (see above) apply.  Inform students that an emergency withdrawal may result in a balance due to the college for the current semester and/or result in financial aid ineligibility in a future semester.

Unofficial Financial Aid Withdrawal (Financial Aid Process Only)

An unofficial college withdrawal occurs when a student never attends (E grades) or stops actively participating in all courses in the term. E grades are processed as a “no show” and financial aid is not processed.  The Financial Aid Office is notified of all E grades from the Registrar’s Office.

Active participation includes attending a class, completing an assignment, taking an exam or quiz, etc. If a course is online, it also includes participating in an online discussion, but would not include a simple login with no active participation. 

At the mid-term point and after a term ends, the Financial Aid Office reviews all students who at mid-term all F’s are reported in every course and at the end of term who received all F’s in every course. The last date of attendance (LDA) will be reported as the effective withdrawal date.  If the student is attending and actively participating in any courses, they will not be considered an unofficial withdrawal.   

If a student is identified as “no longer attending” the Financial Aid Office will process a federal withdrawal calculation and a portion or all of the financial aid disbursed may have to be returned.  If a student has received a refund and aid was returned, the student will be held responsible for the balance.  

If the last date of active participation cannot be determined for all classes in a semester, per federal law, the effective college withdrawal date defaults to 50% or the latest date of active participation, whichever occurs later.

Academic Standing vs. Financial Aid Standing 

Confusion exists between the college’s academic standing classifications and financial aid standings. Students on academic probation (GPA below 2.0) often think that once they regain their eligibility academically they are also eligible for financial aid. 

For federal and state aid, students must meet a GPA standard as well as a pace standard, therefore, it is possible for a student to be in good standing with the college but not with federal and/or state aid. In particular, students that have many course withdrawals could have an eligible GPA but not an eligible pace.

Academic eligibility for financial aid consists of quantitative and qualitative.  Quantitative measure sets the time frame for a program completion.  The maximum time frame for a program completion may not exceed 150% of the published length of the program measured in academic years, terms, or credit hours attempted.  

See the Standards of Federal Satisfactory Academic Progress document to maintain federal and state financial aid.  

Students are encouraged to check their federal SAP status with the Financial Aid Office or website. 

At the end of each semester, we evaluate each student’s academic progress against their financial aid progress.  We will notify the student if they are on warning, probation or financial aid suspension.  Every student has the right to appeal.