If circumstances require you to consider withdrawing from classes, you should contact the Office of Financial Aid and your academic advisor before withdrawing, to make sure you understand the financial and academic consequences of your decision. The Office of Financial Aid's counselors will explain the policies described on this page and how they will apply to your situation.

The university has a tuition refund policy that stipulates the amount of tuition and fees that are refunded to a student who withdraws from all classes during a term. The Registrar's Office determines specific refund dates each term and publishes them on the Registrar’s website (once on this site, choose the appropriate academic term; then click on Student Registration Deadlines). 

Students must immediately notify the Registrar's Office that they are withdrawing by following specific withdrawal procedures posted by the Office of the Registrar. The chart below shows the amount of tuition and fees returned to a student, depending upon when the student withdraws.  

The federal government mandates that students who withdraw from all classes may only keep the federal financial aid (i.e., Title IV funds) they have "earned" up to the time of withdrawal. Title IV funds that have been disbursed in excess of the earned amount must be returned by the university and/or the student to the federal government.  Thus, the student could owe aid funds to the university, the federal government, or both. 

To determine the amount of aid the student has earned up to the time of withdrawal, the Office of Financial Aid divides the number of calendar days the student has attended classes by the total number of calendar days in the semester (minus any scheduled breaks of 5 days or more).  The resulting percentage is then multiplied by the total federal funds that were disbursed (either to the student's university account or to the student directly by check or direct deposit) for the semester. 

This calculation determines the amount of aid earned by the student that he or she may keep (for example, if the student attended 25% of the term, the student will have earned 25% of the aid disbursed). The unearned amount (total aid disbursed minus the earned amount) must be returned to the federal government by the university and/or the student.  The Office of Financial Aid will notify and provide instructions to students who are required to return funds to the government.

If you are considering withdrawing from classes, remember to contact the Office of Financial Aid before you do so. Meeting with a financial aid officer will help you understand how withdrawing will affect your situation.

Funds that are returned to the federal government are used to reimburse the individual federal programs from which a student has received the aid. Financial aid returned (by the university and/or the student or parent) must be allocated, in the following order, up to the net amount disbursed from each source:

 Federal Unsubsidized Direct Loan

 Federal Subsidized Direct Loan

 Federal Perkins Loan

 Federal Direct PLUS (Parent) Loan or Grad PLUS Loan

 Federal Pell Grant

 Federal Supplemental Educational Opportunity Grant (FSEOG)

 Other Federal Loan or Grant Assistance

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