Financial Aid

Return and Repayment of Title IV Funds

Return of Title IV Funds Policy

The student and the student’s family have the primary responsibility for financing the student’s cost of education. After the family’s resources for education have been depleted, financial aid is available to help pay toward the cost of education. A Title IV refund must be calculated for a student who receives Title IV funds (Pell Grant, SEOG and Direct loans) and withdraws from all classes before completing the semester. Students who enroll for the first as well as second summer sessions and do not complete both sessions will also be subject to the Title IV refund calculation.

HCU must calculate the amount of Title IV funds the student earned for the period enrolled before withdrawing and may have to return unearned funds to the source from which the funds came. This may cause the student to owe the university. Students will receive notices once the Return to Title IV Funds calculation has been completed. At this point, the student may have an outstanding balance due to HCU, and will be posted on the student’s account.

Students who have received Title IV aid will be subject to the refund policy of the university as well as the Title IV formula below.

View Institutional Refund dates

For students who receive Title IV funds, the following formula will also be applied:

The return of Title IV funds formula calculates the amount of Title IV (federal) aid that a withdrawn student is entitled to receive relative to the percentage of the term that the student attended. This calculation applies to both students who officially withdraw through the Office of Academic Records and for those who unofficially withdraw by failing to attend the courses that they signed up for in each term. For example, if a student withdraws after attending 20% of the term, the student earns 20% of any awarded Title IV aid that the student was eligible to receive before withdrawing. However, a student who attended more than 60% of the term earns 100% of the aid.

The formula may be broken down into five steps:

  1. Determine the percentage of the semester the student attended before withdrawing. The percentage of the semester attended becomes the percentage of aid earned. If the percentage attended is greater than 60%, the percentage earned becomes 100%.
  2. Determine the amount of Title IV aid earned by multiplying the total Title IV aid (other than Federal Work Study) for which the student qualified by the percentage earned. Total Title IV includes both aid that was disbursed and aid that could have been disbursed.
  3. Compare the amount earned to the amount actually disbursed prior to withdrawal. If more aid was disbursed than was earned, determine the amount of Title IV aid that must be returned. If less aid was disbursed than was earned, the student is entitled to a post-withdrawal disbursement for the difference.
  4. Allocate the responsibility for returning unearned aid between HCU and the student.
  5. Distribute the unearned aid back to the Title IV programs from which they came.

Return of funds by HCU:

HCU must return the unearned aid for which the school is responsible by repaying funds to the following sources, in order, up to the total net amount disbursed from each source:

  1. Direct Unsubsidized Loan
  2. Direct Subsidized Loan
  3. PLUS loan
  4. Pell Grant
  5. SEOG
  6. TEACH
  7. FSEOG x 50%
  8. TEACH x 50%

Loan amounts are returned in accordance with the terms of the promissory note.

If a student received less aid prior to withdrawal than he or she earned under the formula, HCU will make or offer to make a post-withdrawal disbursement.

Post-withdrawal Disbursements:

If the student did not receive all of the funds that were earned prior to withdrawing, a post-withdrawal disbursement may be due. If the post-withdrawal disbursement includes loan funds, the student must give permission before the funds can be disbursed. Students will be notified of post-withdrawal disbursement eligibility within 30 days of the date of withdrawal determination. They must submit a response within 14 days, in order for HCU to disburse the aid to the students account. If no response is received from the student, then no aid will disburse to the student’s account.

A credit balance that occurs as a result of a post-withdrawal disbursement will be refunded to the student or parent (PLUS loans) as soon as possible.

Students will receive a notice of Post-withdrawal Funds will be made in the following order:

  1. Pell Grant
  2. SEOG
  3. Teach
  4. Direct Subsidized Loan
  5. Direct Unsubsidized Loan
  6. PLUS Loan

Withdraw Policy

To officially withdraw from HCU, you must contact the following offices in the following order: (1) print an “Add/Drop” form, (2) Academic Advising, (3) Office of Financial Aid, (4) Office of Academic Records. The Office of Academic Records provides a form which guides you through the process. You may need to visit the Student Account’s Office to discuss adjustments to your account.

Examples of refund calculations are available in the Office of Financial Aid.

Repayment Policy

If a student totally withdraws from the university on or before the first day of classes of a payment period, and the student received a cash disbursement for non-institutional costs under any Title IV program (excluding Federal CWSP and Direct Loans) for that period, the student must repay any cash disbursement which is determined by the university to be an overpayment.

In determining whether a student received an overpayment, the university will subtract from the cash disbursement received by the student the educational costs incurred for non-institutional charges (to include room and board, books and supplies, and miscellaneous expenses) for that payment period up to the date of withdrawal. The cost of room and board will be calculated on a daily basis equal to the current rent being charged by the university. The cost of books, supplies, and miscellaneous expenses will be determined by the number of days that the student is enrolled. The university will determine the amount of the refund, and the amount will be allocated to the Title IV programs in the following order:

  1. Direct Unsubsidized Loans
  2. Direct Subsidized Loans
  3. PLUS Loan
  4. Federal Pell Grant
  5. Federal SEOG Program
  6. TEACH Program
  7. Other Title IV Aid Programs
  8. Other Federal sources of aid
  9. The student

The university will determine the amount of any repayment, and the amount will be allocated in the following order:

  1. Federal Pell Grant
  2. Federal SEOG Program
  3. TEACH Program
  4. Other Title IV programs
  5. Other Federal, State, private, or institutional aid.

In cases where the student drops courses and has already received full payment of financial aid awards from federal sources, repayment of unused funds may be necessary.

Information included in this publication is subject to change. Contact the Office of Financial Aid with any questions you may have about this information.