Title IV Withdrawal & R2T4 Policy

Title IV Withdraw​al Policy &Financial Aid Return to Title IV (R2T4) Requirements

Federal Title IV financial aid funds are awarded under the assumption that a student will remain in attendance and successfully complete the entire semester for which the funds were awarded. These funds include Federal Pell Grant, Federal Supplemental Educational Opportunity Grant (FSEOG), and Federal Direct Loans.

Last day to withdrawal with a W Grade

Santiago Canyon College (SCC) & Santa Ana College (SAC) are schools that are not required to take attendance; therefore, students who cannot continue in a course have an obligation to withdraw officially. Students are encouraged to consult with instructors concerning class withdrawals. Students may officially withdraw on their Self-Service account through the last day of the 12th week of instruction or 75 percent of the class meetings, whichever is less, and receive a transcript grade of “W”.

Students who withdraw from classes after receiving Title IV aid may owe back some of the funds for either a partial withdrawal or a full withdrawal.

The Santiago Canyon College Financial Aid Office (SCC FAO) has set a “Title IV Freeze (PRD) Date” to establish a time frame to add or drop courses to determine a student’s enrollment status for Title IV Awarding. See the Financial Aid Disbursement Schedule & Policy for these dates by term.

Withdrawals

The following are considered a withdrawal:

• Student initiated drop
• Instructor initiated drop, F or NP Grade with a Last Date of Attendance (LDA) documented by the instructor
• Excused Withdrawal (EW) initiated by the student

Partial Withdrawals

CAUTION: Students who partially withdraw from classes after receiving Pell Grants or FSEOG funds, and before the Title IV Freeze (PRD) Date, may be required to repay some of those funds. This includes situations where the Last Date of Attendance (LDA) is recorded before the PRD posted by the instructor. Such cases are considered overpayments. If the funds are not repaid directly to the Rancho Santiago Community College District within 45 days, the overpayment will be reported to the Department of Education for collection. It is important for students to contact our office before dropping any classes to understand how it may impact their financial aid.

Full Withdrawals

CAUTION: When a student withdraws (either officially or unofficially), the school must calculate how much federal financial aid the student is allowed to keep based on the percentage of the term they attended. If the student attended less than 60% of the term, they may need to return a portion of the financial aid they received. If the funds are not repaid directly to the Rancho Santiago Community College District within 45 days, the overpayment will be reported to the Department of Education for collection. It is important for students to contact our office before dropping any classes to understand how it may impact their financial aid.

Official withdrawal

Official withdrawals are initiated by the student and is determined by when the student withdrew themselves. Also, for distance education, the last date of an academically related activity that the student participated in may be used as the student’s withdrawal date. This withdrawal is not considered a “W” due to excessive absence. Therefore, the withdrawal date is based on the date that the college becomes aware that the student has ceased attendance.

Unofficial withdrawal

Students who receive all substandard grades, such as all F’s, NPs, or a combination of substandard grades and withdrawals will be considered to have unofficially withdrawn. The financial aid office will then need to assess whether the student attended classes and earned those grades. Starting in the Fall 2024 semester, the financial aid office will use the LDA provided by instructors to determine if a student earned their F or NP grade. If the LDA falls within the last week of the class, it indicates that the student attended throughout the semester and earned that grade. An unearned F or NP grade occurs when a student stops attending before the final week of the course. If a student has only unearned F’s, NP’s, and W grades, the financial aid office will perform a Return to Title IV (R2T4) calculation.

Last date of an academic related activity (Online/Distance education)

Students who enrolled only in online/distant education courses and then become full drops are subject to the R2T4 calculation. The last date of attendance will be determined by the following:

• When a student initiates a withdrawal, the Financial Aid Office will contact the instructor(s) to determine the last date of an *academically related activity, which serves as the Official Withdrawal date. If no response is provided by the instructor within a 14-day period, the 50% Mid-Point Rule will serve as the Unofficial Withdrawal date.
• If the instructor drops the student, the Last Date of Attendance documented by the instructor will be used.

Examples of acceptable *academically related activities:

• Student submission of an academic assignment
• Student submission of an exam
• Documented student participation in an interactive tutorial or computer-assisted instruction
• A posting by the student showing the student’s participation in an online study group that is assigned by the institution
• A posting by the student in a discussion forum showing the student’s participation in an online discussion about academic matters
• An email from the student or other documentation showings that the student-initiated contact with a faculty member to ask a question about the academic subject studied in the course

Calculation of R2T4 & Formula

An R2T4 calculation is a process used by schools to determine the amount of federal financial aid a student has "earned" if they withdraw from all their classes before completing the term. It applies to Title IV funds, which include Pell Grant, FSEOG Grant, and Direct Loans.

An R2T4 calculation is required only if a student has attended at least one day of the semester (payment period), is eligible for Title IV funds, and withdraws from all courses. R2T4 regulations do not apply to students who do not begin attendance at all during the semester or to those who remain enrolled in at least one course throughout the entire term.

When a student officially or unofficially withdraws from all courses, regardless of any reason, they may no longer be eligible for the entire amount of Title IV aid originally awarded and/or disbursed. The return of funds to the Federal Government is based on the premise that a student earns financial aid in proportion to the length of time during which the student remains enrolled.

SCC is required to perform this calculation within 30 days of the date the school learns that a student has completely withdrawn. The school must return the funds within 45 days of the date of determination. R2T4 calculations are completed by the Financial Aid Office on a regular basis.

In accordance with the Return of Title IV guidelines as mandated by the U.S. Department of Education, the R2T4 calculation process will calculate the prorated amount of financial aid a student has earned based on the percentage of time they remained enrolled in a class.

• The amount of Title IV Aid earned will be prorated based on the withdrawal date if it occurs before the 60% point of the semester. Once the 60% point has passed, the student is considered to have earned the full amount of financial aid originally awarded/disbursed and will not be required to repay any funds due to withdrawal.
• For unofficial withdrawals, when there is no recorded LDA or last date of an academically related activity, the withdrawal date will be considered the midpoint (50%) of the payment period or semester. In such cases, the student may be required to repay a portion of the financial aid they received.

As part of the R2T4 calculations, institutional charges will be included. Institutional charges generally are defined as the charges for tuition, fees, books charged to the student’s account (Book Advance Program), and other educational expenses that are paid to the school directly. The R2T4 calculation formula is as follows:

• The percent earned is equal to the number of calendar days completed up to the withdrawal date divided by the total number of calendar days in the payment period excluding scheduled breaks that are longer than five days.
• The percent of unearned funds is equal to 100 percent minus the percent earned.

Order of Return of Title IV Funds

A school must return Title IV funds to the programs from which the student received aid during the payment period or period of enrollment as applicable, in the following order, up to the net amount disbursed from each source:

1. Unsubsidized Direct Loans
2. Subsidized Direct Loans
3. Direct PLUS Loans (parent or graduate)
4. Federal Pell Grant
5. FSEOG

Results of the R2T4 Calculation

Post Withdrawal Disbursement: If a student did not receive all funds that they earned, the student may receive a post-withdrawal disbursement after they have completely withdrawn from all courses during a semester. Please note, there may be scheduled Title IV financial aid funds that cannot be disbursed once a student withdraws from all courses due to other eligibility requirements. For Pell Grant, the amount will be disbursed prior to 45 days of the date of determination. For Direct Loans, the student must have their loan originated prior to withdrawal and must request a post-withdrawal disbursement in writing no later than 14 days from the revised offer notification being sent.

School Owes Title IV: If it is determined that a portion of the student’s award is owed by the college, the Financial Aid Office will return the unearned School Owes portion of the Title IV program (Pell, FSEOG, or Direct Loan) to the Department of Education within 45 days.

Student Owes an Overpayment: If the student has been overpaid, they will be notified of the program and amount of the overpayment which is required to be repaid.

If the overpayment was from:

• Pell Grant or FSEOG – the Financial Aid Office will notify the student of the amount they owe in form of a bill via email to their preferred email on Self-Service. Students will be emailed up to three notices. The initial notice, the 30-day reminder, and the notice if/when the student is reported to the Department of Education.
• During the initial 45 days, a hold will be placed on the students account at SCC which will prohibit registration for subsequent semesters until the debt is repaid. Students may pay this balance in full with the SCC Cashier’s Office. Payments must be made in full, partial payments will not be accepted.
• If no payment has been made to the school within 45 days of the date of notification, the students’ overpayment will be referred to the Department of Education for any student portion owed. The hold at SCC will be lifted; however, a student’s overpayment will be referred to the Department of Education for collections and a hold will be placed on the National Student Loan Data System (NSLDS). The student will lose future financial aid eligibility until funds are repaid.
• Direct Loan – the Financial Aid Office will notify students to complete the Exit Counseling once we become aware they are no longer enrolled. If the R2T4 calculation results in the student needing to return loan funds, the student repays those loan funds in accordance with the terms of the promissory note.