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Financial Aid for Complete Withdrawals

Students who have received financial aid and are withdrawing from Drake University are subject to federal return of funds guidelines.  During the first 60% of the semester, financial aid from federal (Title IV funds), certain state, and institutional programs are earned based on the number of days the student remains enrolled.  The percentage of the period that the student remained enrolled is derived by dividing the number of days the student attended by the number of days in the semester. 

Calendar days are used and breaks of five or more days are excluded from both the numerator and denominator.  Scheduled breaks are measured from the first day of the break to the next day that classes are held.  If a break begins on Wednesday and no classes are held the following weekend (classes resume on Monday), the five day break would be excluded from the calculation.

The total amount of unearned federal program funds, other than Federal Work Study earnings, must be returned. Unearned federal aid is the amount of the disbursed aid that exceeds the amount of aid earned under the federal calculation. Federal funds that are required to be returned are credited in the following order: Federal Unsubsidized Stafford Loans, Federal Subsidized Stafford Loans, Federal Perkins Loan, Federal PLUS (Graduate Student), Federal PLUS (Parent), Federal Pell Grant, Academic Competitiveness Grant, National SMART Grant, Federal SEOG, other Title IV aid.

Students, who received more funds than they were entitled to as a result of the federal recalculation, may need to repay unearned program funds.

Unearned state and institutional program funds are to be returned to their specific programs. Funds from private scholarships are returned to their programs per their individual regulations. 

Private loans and payments made by students and/or parents are not subject to the earned aid percentage calculation.  These funds are used to pay the remaining balance after adjustments of federal, state, institutional charges have been completed.  Any credit balance remaining is returned to the source of payment.

Students who remain enrolled beyond the 60% point earn all aid for that semester. The 60% point must be met, without rounding off to the nearest percent, to earn 100% of aid for the semester.

Institutional costs play no role in determining the amount of federal funds to which a withdrawn student is entitled. Students will be responsible for payments of costs not covered by the amount of aid earned. Student/parent payments toward original charges may not be refunded in the same proportion as the revised aid.

This policy is subject to federal regulations, specifically, the Higher Education Amendments of 1998, Public Law 105-244.  Please contact the Office of Student Financial Planning to discuss individual circumstances.

Example of a Summer Recalculation

An 8-week summer 2007 session contains 56 days.  Examples for summer 2007 percentages:

Withdrawal on Day 1 = 1/56 = 1.8%
Withdrawal on Day 2 = 2/56 = 3.6%
Withdrawal on Day 34 = 34/56 = 60.7%

This example is for illustration purposes only. Actual charges and refund amounts may vary.  The summer has multiple variations of sessions.  The following is an example of charges and credits for a student who completely withdrew from classes on the 28th day of an 8 weeks summer session (28/56 = 50.0 percent). This student paid in full before withdrawing.

Original Charges

Revised Charges

$2,160

Tuition

$2,160*

Original Financial Aid

Revised Financial Aid

$1,750

Stafford Loan

$ 775  (retained amount)

$ 200

Pell

$ 200  (retained amount)

Total Original Aid

Total Revised Aid

$1,950

$ 975

Student Payment

Balance

$210

$1,185

*Please note that although this student only attended 50% of the summer session they are being charged 100% tuition.  For more information on Tuition Charges for Complete Withdrawal for summer, please click on the hyper-link.

Example of a Fall Recalculation

The enrollment period for the fall 2007 semester contains 111 days.  Examples for fall 2007 percentages:

Withdrawal on Day 1 = 1/111 = 0.9%
Withdrawal on Day 2 = 2/111 = 1.8%
Withdrawal on Day 68 = 68/111 = 61.3%

This example is for illustration purposes only. Actual charges and refund amounts may vary. The following is an example of charges and credits for a student who completely withdrew from classes on the 49th day in the fall semester (49/111 = 44.1 percent). This student paid in full before withdrawing.

Original Charges

Revised Charges

$11,640

Tuition

$5,230

Original Financial Aid

Revised Financial Aid

$2,750

Stafford Loan

$1,213  (retained amount)

$1,465

Drake Grant in Aid

$ 646  (retained amount)

$2,000

Iowa Tuition Grant

$ 882

Total Original Aid

Total Revised Aid

$6,215

$2,741

Student Payment

Balance

$5,425

$2,936 (credit)