The attached letter from the US Department of Education addresses the treatment of students and borrowers who are members of the National Guard or Reserves and who have been ordered to active military duty as a result of the recent terrorist attacks.

If you withdraw or stop attending your classes,
you may have to repay the funds.

Class Attendance: First day class attendance and an eligible academic standing is required to receive Federal Pell Grant, Federal Supplemental Educational Opportunity Grant (SEOG) and State of Florida Scholarships and Grants and the USF Grant.  You may be billed up to 100% of any of these funds received if your enrollment status changes due to first day non-attendance or academic dismissal.

Official/Unofficial Withdrawals: If you totally withdraw or stop attending all classes before completing more than 60% of the term a portion of the total federal aid you received, excluding Federal Work Study earnings, may need to be repaid immediately.

Students should monitor their grades closely at the end of each semester and respond as soon as possible to the “unofficial” withdrawal notice to avoid unnecessary processing, billing and delays.

If you receive all F, I, U or M grades for a term you will be considered an “unofficial” withdrawal. After grades are posted, you will be notified that you are being considered an “unofficial” withdrawal. After 30 days, we are required to begin the Return to Title IV Repayment calculation and billing process and assume you unofficially withdrew at the 50% point of that term.

To ensure your Last Date of Attendance is documented correctly, you may submit the Change Last Date of Attendance form to your instructor/academic department and return in to the Office of Financial Aid. The calculation will be revised to include the new date and the amount you owe may be revised. You will be notified of the result of our review. It may take 2-4 weeks to restore funds that were billed and returned to the Federal Student Aid programs (including loans).

The amount of federal aid that you must repay is determined via the Federal Formula for Return of Title IV funds (Section 484B of the Higher Education Act). This law also specifies the order in which funds are to be returned to the financial aid programs from which they were awarded, starting with loan programs.

• You may be required to make a repayment when cash has been disbursed from financial aid funds, in excess of the amount of aid that you earned (based on the date of your total withdrawal) during the term.   The amount of Title IV aid earned is determined by multiplying the total Title IV aid (other than FWS) for which you qualified by the percentage of time during the term that you were enrolled.

• If less aid was disbursed than was earned, you may submit a request to receive a late disbursement for the difference.

• If more aid was disbursed than was earned, the amount of Title IV aid that you must return (i.e. not earned) is determined by subtracting the earned amount from the amount actually disbursed.

The responsibility for returning unearned Title IV aid is shared between the University and you.   It is allocated according to the portion of disbursed aid that could have been used to cover University charges, and the portion that could have been disbursed directly to you once those charges were covered.  USF will distribute the unearned aid back to the Title IV programs, as specified by law. 

You will be notified if you owe a repayment due to an official/unofficial withdrawal within 30 days of the date the determination of the withdrawal is made.

You will be billed for the amount that you owe to the Title IV programs, as well as any amount due to the University, as a result of Title IV funds that were returned that would have been used to cover University charges.

If you are eligible for a post-withdrawal disbursement, you have 14 days from the date of the notice to request the disbursement. Post Withdrawal disbursements may take 4-6 weeks to process.

TREATMENT OF FEDERAL STUDENT AID WHEN A STUDENT WITHDRAWS

In general, all financial aid grants, scholarships and student loans will be reimbursed by any refund until those programs are repaid in full.

The following addresses the distribution of any refund if financial aid funds were received during the term:

• If you received Federal Student Aid the refund will be applied to any repayment amount owed first (see Repayment Policy) and then until all Federal Student Aid funds are repaid in full.  

• If you were paid a State of Florida Scholarship or Grant (e.g. Florida Bright Futures, Florida Student Assistance Grant, etc.) a refund approved during that term will be applied to the scholarship or grant until it has been repaid in full for that term.

• If you only received a USF Scholarship, or scholarship/grant funds from another State or private agency/organization, the refund may be applied to the scholarship(s) until repaid in full for that term. This depends on the specific guidelines for each program.

• Expired Refund Checks: Federal regulations require institutions that mail refund checks to students to return those funds to the Federal Student Aid programs if the checks are not cashed before they expire.  USF checks expire 90 days after they are printed.

If a refund check is returned for a bad address, the Cash Accounting Office (SVC 1038) will attempt to contact the student and re-mail the check if a new address is available.

After the 90th day of the check date, the University Scholarships & Financial Aid Services office is required to return the Federal Student Aid (including student loans) to the Federal Student Aid program. Funds returned to the Federal Student Aid program will not be reissued. Any remaining unclaimed funds may be sent to the Florida Department of Financial Services in Tallahassee as abandoned property.

The best way to avoid this scenario is for students to sign up for eDeposit via OASIS in the Tuition, Fees and Payment link.

NOTE: You may submit a written request to the Office of Financial Aid to have a refund for a corresponding term returned to a particular scholarship, grant or loan program from which you received funds for that term. In certain circumstances, this may allow you to regain future eligibility for specific scholarships or reduce the outstanding principal balance on a student loan.