Financial Aid Policies – Withdrawal, Refund and Satisfactory Academic Progress

Withdrawal Policy

A student can make an official withdrawal from Hesston College at any time during the term in which they are enrolled. To officially withdraw a student notifies the registrar that they are withdrawing from school. The date the student notifies the registrar is considered the official date of withdrawal. The registrar notifies the financial aid office, student life, business office, and the academic dean’s office of the student’s withdrawal and their last date of attendance.

An unofficial withdrawal occurs when a student simply stops going to class and doesn’t go through the official withdrawal procedure. Faculty members notify the Registrar’s office when a student is no longer attending their class. The Registrar then contacts all faculty members who had the student in their class to determine the last date of attendance. Faculty will make this determination by class attendance or the last date the student submitted an assignment or took an exam. Once the Registrar has gathered the information from the faculty a last date of attendance is determined. This date is then shared with the financial aid office, student life, business office and the academic dean’s office.

Refund Policy

The tuition, fees, room and board charges (institutional charges) for students who withdraw on or after the first day of regularly scheduled classes will be prorated on a daily basis over the first 60 percent of the enrollment period. The percentage of charges owed is derived by dividing calendar days attended in the period by total days in the period. Weekends are included, but scheduled breaks that are at least five (5) days long are excluded. If the student completes more than 60% of the term, 100 percent of the charges are owed for the period. No refund is made after the 60 percent of the enrollment period is completed.

Laboratory fees and clinical fees will be prorated based on percentage of curriculum plan completed prior to withdrawal. Bookstore charges, student health insurance, and other personal costs are not prorated at withdrawal.

Hesston College follows federal aid guidelines in determining the amount of unearned aid to be refunded to Federal Student Financial Aid programs. Examples of calculations of earned and unearned institutional charges, financial aid and refunds upon withdrawal are available upon request. Other government or private aid will be refunded as required by the terms of the particular program.

Satisfactory Academic Progress

Students receiving all NC’s at the end of a term

The Registrar compiles a list at the end of the semester of those students who have received all NC’s (failing grades) in their classes. The Registrar will then determine which students have completed the term and have failed, and which student’s did not complete the term and a withdrawal calculation must be done. As in the unofficial withdrawal the Registrar will contact the faculty members involved to see when the last date of attendance was for the student. If that date is before the end of the term, the financial aid office, student life, business office and the academic dean’s office will be notified and return to Title IV funds will be calculated as described below.

Return of Title IV Federal Student Aid

Students who withdraw from all courses on or before the 60% point of the semester will be evaluated according to the Department of Education guidelines and formula as stipulated by the current Higher Education Amendments. Federal aid is earned by the percentage of the payment period the student completes. The percentage of aid earned is derived by dividing calendar days attended in the period by total days in the period. Weekends are included, but scheduled breaks that are at least five (5) days long are excluded. If the student completes more than 60% of the term, 100% of the aid is earned for the period and no immediate repayments obligation results. If the student completes 60% or less of the term, the portion of the federal aid determined to be unearned must be repaid to the federal programs.

The Title IV Federal programs that are affected include Federal Pell Grants, FSEOG, William D Ford Direct Subsidized and Unsubsidized Loan programs. Federal aid programs are returned in the following order: William D Ford Direct Unsubsidized Loan, William D Ford Direct Loan, Federal Perkins Loan, Federal Pell Grant, Academic Competitiveness Grant, FSEOG and other Title IV Programs.

Hesston College will return Title IV aid from the student’s account according to the federal formula. A student may be required to return a Title IV aid overpayment. When a student receives notification from Hesston College of an overpayment, the student has 45 days to return the funds to the Business Office. Students not complying with the 45-day requirement will be submitted to the Department of Education for collection. The student will be ineligible for further Title IV aid until the overpayment has been paid in full or satisfactory repayment arrangements have been made with the Department of Education.

The return of Title IV funds calculation will be done within 30 days of the date the institution is aware of the student’s withdrawal. A letter indicating the calculation results, any applicable refund or the adjusted statement of charges will be sent to the student’s home address.

Return of Non-Federal Student Aid

The return of federal funds is the first priority for students receiving federal aid. If the student received institutional aid, state aid, or made personal payment, the institutional and state aid are repaid proportionally according to the source of the payment. If repayment of aid programs results in a balance owed to Hesston College on the student’s account, it is the responsibility of the student to pay the amount owed and it is due upon notification that a balance owed exists. If a student withdraws, monies that were received from Federal sources to cover institutional charges may result in an amount due that the student will be responsible to pay.