Fall Semester 2021 Catalog

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Withdrawing From or Dropping Classes Affect on Financial Aid

Withdrawing From or Dropping Classes

Federal financial aid (Pell Grant and Federal Supplemental Educational Opportunity Grant (FSEOG) and Georgia's HOPE Scholarship, HOPE Grant, Zell Miller Grant, and Zell Miller Scholarship programs do not consider hours dropped during the drop/add period (usually the first three days of the semester) as registered hours for students. All HOPE funding for tuition of dropped classes is refunded to the Georgia Student Finance Commission.

If students withdraw from classes after the first three days of the academic term, HOPE will cover tuition provided students attended class or attempted to contact their instructors during the first full week of the semester. The Financial Aid Office will recalculate the amount of Pell Grant and FSEOG awarded based on the Federal Return of Title IV Funds  policy. Please consult with a financial aid counselor prior to withdrawing from a class. Withdrawing affects students' satisfactory academic progress.

Refund Process for Students Receiving Federal Title IV Financial Aid (R2T4)

The U.S. Department of Education (DOE) specifies how Augusta Technical College must determine the amount of Title IV program assistance that you earn if you withdraw from the semester or stop attending all of your courses for a term. Augusta Technical College's Title IV programs that are covered by this regulation include Federal Pell Grants and Federal Supplemental Educational Opportunity Grants (SEOGs).

When you withdraw or stop attending all courses during your period of enrollment (term in which you are registered), the amount of Title IV program assistance that you have earned up to that point is determined by a specific formula. If you received (or Augusta Technical College received on your behalf) less assistance than the amount that you earned, you may be able to receive those additional funds. If you received more assistance than you earned, the excess funds must be returned to U.S. DOE.

You cannot receive federal aid for the full semester if you were not enrolled in class(es) for the full semester. We disburse funds to students assuming they are going to remain enrolled for the full semester.  If you withdraw or otherwise stop attending, with no regard for the reason(s) of such action/inaction, the amount of assistance (aid) that you have earned is determined on a 'prorata basis'. For example, if you completed 30 percent of your period of enrollment, you earn 30 percent of the assistance you were originally scheduled to receive. Once you have completed more than 60 percent of the period of enrollment, you earn all the assistance that you were scheduled to receive for that period. 

If you did not receive all of the funds that you 'earned', you may be due a post-withdrawal disbursement. Augusta Technical College will automatically use all or a portion of your post-withdrawal disbursement of grant funds for tuition and fees. The school needs your permission to use the post-withdrawal grant disbursement for all other school charges (fees not automatically paid with financial aid funds). If you do not give your permission, you will be offered the funds. However, it may be in your best interest to allow Augusta Technical College to utilize the funds to reduce your debt at the school. There may be some Title IV funds that you were scheduled to receive that cannot be disbursed to you once you withdraw or stop attending because of other eligibility requirements.

If you (or Augusta Technical College on your behalf) receive excess Title IV program funds that must be returned, your school must return a portion of the excess equal to the lesser of:

  • your institutional charges multiplied by the unearned percentage of your funds, or
  • the entire amount of excess funds.

Any amount of unearned grant funds that must be returned is called an overpayment. Augusta Technical College returns on your behalf any funds to U.S. DOE for which you were not entitled. However, at the same time, the college charges those funds to your student account (bills you for what had to be returned). This balance must be resolved/paid by the student before future registration/enrollment can occur, before a student may receive transcripts or enrollment verification, etc. In some cases, student balances are referred to U.S. DOE or outside collection agencies.

The requirements for Title IV program funds when you withdraw or stop attending all courses for a term are separate from the Institutional Policy  Therefore, you may still owe funds to the school to cover unpaid institutional charges. Augusta Tech will charge you for any Title IV program funds that the school was required to return. Remember, per institutional policy, we are charging you 100% tuition/fees on day 4 of the term--as if you will complete the term. A withdrawal does not reduce your tuition/fees due after day 3.

 

Unofficial Withdrawals:  As a college, Augusta Technical College does not have an official attendance policy after the 'no show' period has ended. However, just like previously stated, you cannot receive aid for a term's worth of work if you weren't present to do work during that full term. Someone who simply disappears or chooses to stop attending but fails to withdraw is considered an "unofficial withdrawal". Any student who unofficially withdraws (stops attending class(es)) will have his or her aid recalculated based on this federal policy. This recalculation will likely result in the student being required to return unearned federal funds to the college. As well, official and unofficial withdrawals negatively affect a student's SAP and could result in the loss of future funding. Students with balances due to the college will have their student accounts placed on hold--preventing transcripts, registration, etc.