Financial Aid Refund Policy
OVERVIEW (specific information and timelines are below):
Title IV (Federal) funds are awarded to a student under the assumption that the student will attend school for the entire period for which the assistance is awarded. When a student completely withdraws*, the student may no longer be eligible for the full amount of Title IV funds that the student was originally scheduled to receive.
When a student completely withdraws, a Federal Return of Title IV Funds calculation (R2T4) determines how much aid the student earned. The R2T4 calculation must be completed by the university within 30 days of the date the school determined that the student withdrew. The calculation is based on the number of days the student attended in the semester, divided by the total number of days in the semester (minus any scheduled breaks of at least five days in length)**.
The R2T4 calculation also determines how much aid the student did not earn. If a student received Title IV Aid (Federal Pell Grant, FSEOG, Federal Direct Loans and PLUS), unearned funds will need to be returned by the university to the aid programs. See specific information below for more information on the return requirements.
If a student attends more than 60% of the semester before withdrawing, the student has earned 100% of their aid and no return of aid is required.
If a student did not receive all of the funds that they earned, the student may be eligible for a Post Withdrawal Disbursement (PWD). See specific information below on Post Withdrawal Disbursements.
If a student received a Title IV Aid credit balance and it was comprised of a federal Pell Grant or FSEOG and the student completely withdraw from their classes within the first 60% of the semester, the student may owe a repayment of a portion of the federal aid received as a credit balance. See specific information below on repayments.
If a student remains enrolled but fails to pass all classes (all F’s), Emmaus will consider the student as having withdrawn unless there is acceptable documentation of attendance. If it is determined that the student attended the entire semester and earned the failing grades, then no Return of Title IV Funds will be calculated.
If a student unofficially withdraws (quits attending all classes and does not officially withdraw and fails to pass all classes), Emmaus will attempt to determine the last date of an academically related activity that the student participated in and will use that date as the student’s withdrawal date. If such a date cannot be determined, Emmaus will use the midpoint of the semester as the withdrawal date.
If no attendance can be documented, the student will be considered as never having commenced attendance and therefore would be ineligible for the aid received and all the federal aid received would have to be returned. The university will return funds that were disbursed to the student’s account. The student would return funds if funds were disbursed to them in the form of a credit balance. In addition, since the student failed to take the appropriate steps to officially withdraw, they may still owe the university for tuition and other costs incurred.
SPECIFIC INFORMATION AND TIMELINES:
Return of Aid:
The federal formula requires a return of Title IV aid if the student received federal financial assistance in the form of a Pell Grant, Supplemental Educational Opportunity Grant, Federal Direct Student Loan or a PLUS loan and withdrew on or before completing 60% of the semester. No aid funds must be returned or repaid if the student attended more than 60% of the quarter before withdrawing.
Unearned portions of aid are returned by the school to the financial aid programs in accordance with federal regulations within 45 days of the student’s withdrawal date. The aid is returned according to the following distribution:
Distribution Priority of Title IV Refunds & Repayment:
- Unsubsidized Direct Stafford loans
- Subsidized Direct Stafford loans
- Federal Perkins loans (Emmaus does not participate in this program)
- Direct PLUS loans (Parent)
- Federal Pell Grants
- Federal Supplemental Educational Opportunity Grants (FSEOG)
- Federal Teach Grants for which a Return is required.
- Iraq Afghanistan Service Grant for which a return is required.
- Other Title IV Aid
- Other, State, Private, or Institutional Aid
- The Student
If the R2T4 calculation results in an amount to be returned that exceeds the school’s portion, the student must repay those funds. Students will be informed of this requirement in writing within 30 days that the student withdrew.
Post Withdrawal Disbursement
If, as a result of the R2T4 calculation, the student is eligible for Title IV funds that the student has earned but have not yet been disbursed, the student is eligible for a Post Withdrawal Disbursement (PWD). If the PWD consists of a Federal Pell Grant and/or FSEOG, the funds will be disbursed to the student’s account within 45 days of the date the school determined that the student withdrew.
If your PWD eligibility includes a Federal Direct Student Loan (Subsidized and/or Unsubsidized), and the university has originated your loan(s), Emmaus must get your permission before it can disburse the loan funds. You may choose to decline some or all of the loan funds so that you don’t incur additional debt. You will be notified of your eligibility for a post withdraw disbursement within 30 days of your complete withdrawal and you will have 14 days from notification to accept or decline the Direct Loan PWD.
If the university has not already originated the Direct Loan, you must complete a required Loan Entrance Counseling Session and a Direct Subsidized/Unsubsidized Loan Master Promissory Note at: www.studentloans.gov before the university can originate the loan and offer you the Direct Loan PWD. These steps must be completed before the 14 day period ends in which you can accept or decline the PWD.
If the PWD is a PLUS PWD and the university has already originated the PLUS, the parent borrower will be notified of their eligibility for a post withdraw disbursement within 30 days of your complete withdrawal and they will have 14 days from notification to accept or decline the PLUS.
If the university has not already originated the PLUS, the parent borrower must complete the PLUS Application (and is approved for the loan) and they must complete a PLUS Master Promissory Note at: www.studentloans.gov before the university can originate the loan and offer them the PLUS PWD. These steps must be completed before the 14 day period ends in which they can accept or decline the PWD.
Emmaus will first apply the PWD’s to the student’s Emmaus account for outstanding tuition, required fees, and room and board charges for the semester in which you withdrew. If a credit balance is created, the funds offered to the student as a direct disbursement for grants or Direct Loans (see the Credit Balance section below).
Credit Balance
If the R2T4 calculation results in a credit balance on the student’s account because there are no outstanding charges, a Pell and/or FSEOG credit balance will be disbursed to the student within 14 days after the R2T4 calculation is done and the credit balance will be issued to the student in the form of a check.
If the R2T4 calculation results in a credit balance on the student’s account because there are no outstanding charges, and the credit balance is a Direct Student Loan, you may choose to decline some or all of the loan funds so that you don’t incur additional debt. You will be notified of your eligibility for the credit balance within 30 days of your complete withdrawal and you will have 14 days from notification to accept or decline the Direct Loan credit balance disbursement. If you accept the Direct Loan credit balance disbursement, it will be issued to you in the form of a check within 14 days of when the university receives your notification of acceptance.
If the R2T4 calculation results in a credit balance on the student’s account because there are no outstanding charges, and the credit balance is a PLUS, the parent borrower will be notified of their eligibility for a post withdraw disbursement within 30 days of your complete withdrawal and they will have 14 days from notification to accept or decline the PLUS. If the parent borrower accepts the PLUS credit balance disbursement, it will be issued to them in the form of a check within 14 days of when the university receives their notification of acceptance.
Repayment
If a student received a Title IV Aid credit balance and it was comprised of a federal Pell Grant and/or FSEOG and the student completely withdraw from their classes within the first 60% of the semester, the student may owe a repayment of a portion of the federal grants they received as a credit balance.
If you are determined to be in repayment status, you will be notified of this obligation by regular mail. If the funds are not repaid to the school within 120 days, the repayment amount, called an overpayment, will be reported to the U.S. Department of Education.
If the credit balance was comprised of Federal Direct Stafford Student Loans or PLUS, the loans are payable according to the terms of the promissory note.
Please contact the Financial Aid Office if you have any questions about refunds or the calculation of refund amounts.
*Students must officially withdraw from the university by following the withdrawal procedure as listed on our web site. The procedure is:
“Any student withdrawing from Emmaus must begin the process with an interview with the Dean for Student Development. In the interview, the Dean will communicate the necessary steps for withdrawal from the university”.
For the purpose of determining a date of withdrawal for a Return to Title IV Funds calculation for an official withdrawal, the date will be the earlier of the date the student notified the Dean for Student Development of their intent to withdraw or the actual date the student completed the necessary steps for withdrawal from the university.
**Example: if the semester is 110 days in length and the student withdraws on the 55 th day of the semester, the university is required to return 50% of the aid received.
If a student is not eligible for Title IV aid, the institutional refund policy applies.
Refund Policy for Iowa Tuition Grant and National Guard or Military Reserve Members
Emmaus University offers the following options to a student who is a member, or the spouse of a member if the member has a dependent child, of the National Guard or reserve forces of the United States and who is ordered to national guard duty or federal active duty:
(a) Withdraw from the student’s entire registration and receive a full refund of tuition and mandatory fees.
(b) Make arrangements with the student’s instructors for course grades, or for incompletes that shall be completed by the student at a later date. If such arrangements are made, the student’s registration shall remain intact and tuition and mandatory fees shall be assessed for the courses in full.
(c) Make arrangements with only some of the student’s instructors for grades, or for incompletes that shall be completed by the student at a later date. If such arrangements are made, the registration for those courses shall remain intact and tuition and mandatory fees shall be assessed for those courses. Any course for which arrangements cannot be made for grades or incompletes shall be considered dropped and the tuition and mandatory fees for the course refunded.