A withdrawal is considered to be official when a student notifies the Executive Vice President or the Registrar. No other college official has the authority to accept official withdrawals. Students who do not officially withdraw will be considered enrolled in courses until an appropriate academic participation verification point. If it is determined a student is no longer academically participating at the regular check points, the student will be officially withdrawn by the college.

Return of Title IV Funds

For Title IV (federal financial aid) recipients who withdraw from enrollment, the college is mandated by federal regulation to determine the amount of Title IV funds the student has earned at the time the student ceases enrollment. The amount earned is based on the amount of calendar days in the term completed by the student divided by the number of calendar days in the same term, excluding any scheduled breaks of at least five (5) consecutive days. The amount earned is based on the amount of time the student has spent enrolled and is not related to the student’s institutional charges. The amount of Title IV funds earned is based upon a proportional calculation through sixty percent (60%) of the term enrolled. The college will utilize the following steps in order to determine the amount of Title IV a student who withdraws has earned:

1. Determine the date of withdrawal and determine the percentage of payment period (term) in which the student was enrolled.
2. Determine the amount of Title IV aid earned by the student by multiplying the total Title IV aid for which the student was eligible by the percentage of time enrolled.
3. Compare the amount earned to the amount disbursed. If the amount earned is greater than the amount disbursed, then a post-withdrawal disbursement must be made if the student is eligible for a “late disbursement.” If the amount disbursed exceeds the amount earned, the excess of Title IV aid must be returned.
4. Allocate the responsibility for returning unearned aid between the college and the student according to the portion of disbursed aid that could have been used to cover institutional charges and the portion that could have been disbursed directly to the student once institutional charges were covered.
5. Distribute the unearned Title IV aid back to the Title IV programs.

Examples of Return to Title IV and refund calculations may be obtained through the office of financial aid.

Order of Refunds

Should a student withdraw from the institution, any amount of refund will be returned to the Title IV, HEA program funds, including the Pell Grant program, and then to other sources of aid up to the full amount received from the programs.

South College is required to return Title IV funds to the programs from which the student receives aid during the payment period, up to the net amount disbursed from each souce, in the following order:

1. Unsubsidized Federal Stafford Loans
2. Subsidized Federal Stafford Loans
3. Federal Direct Unsubsidized Stafford Loans
4. Federal Direct Subsidized Stafford Loans
5. Federal Perkins Loans
6. Federal PLUS Loans
7. Federal Direct PLUS Loans
8. Federal Pell Grants
9. Academic Competitiveness Grant
10. National SMART Grant
11. Federal Supplemental Educational Opportunity Grant (FSEOG)
12. Other assistance awarded to the student under programs authorized by Title IV
13. Required refunds to other federal, state, private, or institutional student financial assistance awarded to the student
14. To the student

The current refund policy applies to all causes of withdrawal including injury, prolonged illness, or other circumstances that prohibit completion of the course or program of study.