Return of Title IV (R2T4) – 100% Withdrawal 

Per federal regulations, Title IV 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 withdraws, the student may no longer be eligible for the full amount of Title IV funds that the student was originally scheduled to receive. If a recipient of Title IV grant or loan funds withdraws from a school after beginning attendance, the school MUST perform an R2T4 calculation to determine the amount of Title IV aid earned by the student. If the amount disbursed to the student is greater than the amount the student earned, the unearned funds must be returned. If the amount disbursed to the student is less than the amount the student earned, and for which the student is otherwise eligible, he or she is eligible to receive a post-withdrawal disbursement of the earned aid that was not received. 

Because a student begins earning Title IV funds on the first day of attendance, even if the student withdraws before a school’s census date, the school must perform an R2T4 calculation using the number of days the student attended class. The school must include in the R2T4 calculation all forms of Title IV aid that were disbursed or that could have been disbursed, even if the student receives a full tuition refund. Tuition refunds following a student’s withdrawal have no impact on the R2T4 calculations. 

Keep in mind: If you 100% withdraw from all classes or earn zero credits, you may be responsible for returning part or all of the financial aid that you received for the semester. 

If you withdraw from the University and have received financial aid, any refundable amount of your institutional charges (tuition and fees and/or University housing costs) may be returned to the appropriate financial aid sources. You may be expected to repay the “unearned” portion of your financial aid if you withdraw from school or receive any combination of non-passing grades or zero credits (F, NF, W, WF, WP, I, MG, or X) in all courses in a particular term. You are also required to complete exit counseling. 

Your withdrawal date is the date that you inform an authorized University official (orally or in writing) that you will be withdrawing from the University. There is a Semester Withdraw/Cancellation Form on the University website: https://www.umt.edu/withdrawal/ This is the official withdraw form. The official withdraw date is not the date you casually speak or write to an academic advisor, coach, tutor, president, dean, etc. But that date will be the official withdrawal date if it is determined that you were using that contact as official notification. The University can and does use the last date of known attendance to determine the official withdrawal date in certain circumstances. A student must continue to ACTIVELY participate in and/or attend the course(s) to be considered earning aid. The official withdraw date is stored with the Office of the Registrar and used to recalculate financial aid eligibility. 

Financial aid is returned in the following order: 

• Federal Direct Unsubsidized loans 

• Federal Direct Subsidized loans 

• Federal Direct PLUS loans 

• Federal Pell Grants* *If you never attended class, Pell Grant is reduced based on enrollment. A student must actively participate and/or attend class to be considered enrolled for Pell Grant eligibility. This process is called Pell Grant reconciliation and is completed prior to R2T4. 

• Federal SEOG 

• Federal TEACH Grants 

• Federal Iraq and Afghanistan Service Grant 

Example 1: 

Monte Grizzly completed the Semester Withdrawal/Cancellation Form to withdraw from the University on February 23 and attended classes on that same day. The term began on January 17 and is 107 days long. Monte has attended 38 days and has earned 35.5% of his financial aid (38 days divided by 107 total semester days = 35.5%) 

1. The amount of federal aid earned is 35.5% x $7515 = $2667.82 

1. Total federal aid unearned is $7515 - $2667.82 = $4847.18 

1. The second calculation determines the percentage of the amount unearned based on mandatory University charges. Monte was charged $5147.80 for mandatory University charges. The percentage of unearned aid for this second calculation is 100% - 35.5% = 64.5%. Therefore, based on the mandatory University charges for the term, $5147.80 x 70.7% = $4063.69 

1. The amount of federal aid Monte must return is the lesser of step 2 or 3 ($4063.69 in our example). 

1. Federal guidelines determine the order of aid types to be reduced: In Monte’s case, it goes Direct Unsubsidized Loan, Direct Subsidized Loan, Direct Parent PLUS Loan, and then Pell Grant until $4063.69 has been repaid. Therefore, Monte’s aid will be reduced to: 

After reduction: 

The total returned amount reflects the amount to be billed to Monte’s student billing account from his financial aid. Any refunds from tuition that are determined and applied to his account may affect the amount that Monte owes for the Spring term. Monte may also have an issue with Satisfactory Academic Progress since he was awarded aid but did not satisfactorily complete the term. 

If you have questions about your Title IV program funds, you can call the Federal Student Aid Information Center at 1-800-4-FEDAID (1-800-433-3243). TTY users may call 1-800-730-8913. Information is also available on Student Aid on the Web at www.studentaid.ed.gov. 

If a student withdraws before completing 60% of the semester, they may have to repay unearned federal financial aid funds that were previously disbursed. The amount of aid earned is based on a proration of actual calendar days in the semester.

The Financial Aid Office Staff can assist students with determining how much, if any, unearned aid they will have to repay. The resulting balance owed must be resolved before the student can resume attending UM.

Students who stop attending classes and earn a term GPA of 0.0 are considered to be unofficial withdrawals. Just like students who officially withdraw, if the school cannot document that the student attended through 60% of the semester, then they have not earned all of their aid. The unearned portion must be repaid before a student can resume attending UM.

Any combination of 'F', 'NF', 'W', 'WF', 'WP', 'I' or 'MG' grades will result in a term GPA of 0.0. If a student receives all 'NF' grades they will have to repay all of their federal financial aid. However, if a student passes just one class they are not considered to be an unofficial withdrawal.

Students who receive a Federal Pell Grant are required to begin attendance in all their courses. Just because a student withdraws does not mean it can be assumed that they began attendance.

The student's instructors must confirm in writing that the student began attending or else the Federal Pell Grant funds may have to be returned. The onus is upon the student to secure the confirmation from the instructors. A form, the Verification of Attendance for Federal Pell Grant Reinstatement, is provided to the student to facilitate this process.

If a student is granted a Retroactive Withdrawal by the University the student is still considered an unofficial withdrawal for federal aid purposes. Therefore, it does not change the amount of unearned aid that the student has to repay.

The only way to change the amount owed to the school is to secure confirmation from an instructor of a later date of class participation. A form is provided to the student to facilitate this process.

Per the Satisfactory Academic Progress policy (SAP), students are required to earn at least 67% of the credits attempted cumulatively. Withdrawing from the university at any point after the term begins will result in W grades and will lower their percentage for the Pace calculation.

Appeals for Hardship Withdrawals and SAP appeals are separate processes with different burdens of proof. If a student is requesting a Hardship Withdrawal and is also on financial aid suspension, separate appeals will need to be submitted, each with its own supporting documentation attached.

Once a student's enrollment status falls below half-time (6 credits) they begin what is known as their "grace period". If they do not begin attending at some institution at least half-time before six months are up (9 months for Federal Perkins Loans), their loans will enter repayment. If they do begin attending half-time within the six months, they have not used up their grace period and will still have a full grace period before repayment begins the next time they drop below half-time.

Students who enter repayment and then return to school will not have a grace period for those loans. However, any new loans they take out will have an associated grace period.

Any student who anticipates entering repayment on their loans needs to complete Loan Exit Counseling to learn about their rights and responsibilities as a borrower.