Withdrawal and Refund Policy: Treatment of Title IV Funds
- Students withdrawing from school within the refund period will have institutional and state aid refunded according to the general refund policy of the University.
- Federal assistance will be refunded as outlined in the Federal guidelines of each program. Students enrolling who do not complete 60% of the semester will have their federal aid prorated for a refund according to the Federal Government Return of Title IV Funds Policy
- The financial aid office recalculates federal financial aid eligibility for students who withdraw, drop out, are dismissed or take a leave of absence prior to completing 60% of the payment period.
- Limestone must return the amount of Title IV funds for which it is responsible as soon as possible, but no later than 45 days after the date of the institution’s determination that the student withdrew.
Federal regulations specify how Limestone must determine the amount of federal (Title IV) financial aid that you earn if you withdraw from school. The federal programs at Limestone included under these regulations are: Federal Direct Subsidized Loans, Federal Direct Unsubsidized Loans, Federal Graduate PLUS Loans, Federal Parent PLUS Loans, Federal Pell Grants, and Federal Supplemental Educational Opportunity Grants.
When you withdraw, the amount of assistance that you have earned is determined on a pro rata basis. For example, if you completed 30% of your payment period, you earn 30% of the assistance you were originally scheduled to receive. Once you have completed more than 60% of the payment period, you earn all the assistance that you were scheduled to receive for that period.
If you received less assistance than the amount that you earned, you may be able to receive those additional funds as a Post-Withdrawal Disbursement. For a post-withdrawal of loan funds, you will receive a written notification within 30 days of the date we determined you withdrew and you will be required to confirm you want the disbursement (or your parent for a Parent PLUS Loan).
If you received more assistance than you earned, the excess funds must be returned to the government by Limestone and/or you. This is called a Return to Title IV (or R2T4). If you received excess federal financial aid that must be returned, the University 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.
This return of funds may create a significant indebtedness for you if this aid was used to pay for charges for which you are still responsible or if you received these funds as a refund.
If Limestone is not required to return all of the excess funds, you must return the remaining amount. Any loan funds that you must return, you (or your parent for a Parent PLUS Loan) repay in accordance with the terms of the promissory note. That is, you make scheduled payments to the holder of the loan over a period of time. Any amount of unearned grant funds that you must return is called an overpayment. The maximum amount of a grant overpayment that you must repay is half of the grant funds you received or were scheduled to receive. You do not have to repay a grant overpayment if the original amount of the overpayment is $50 or less. You must make arrangements with Limestone to return the unearned grant funds.
Unofficial Withdrawal
An unofficial withdrawal is when official notification is not received from the student.
Examples of an unofficial withdrawal include: a student does not successfully complete any of their courses (receives all F grades or WF grades); stops attending classes; or did not complete any course work as of the 60% point of the semester- without officially withdrawing from Limestone, as required.
Upon determination of the student's last date of attendance, the Return of Title IV funds calculation will apply. The withdrawal date is your last documented date of attendance, as determined by instructors.
Students who unofficially withdraw will be placed on Financial Aid Suspension effective the next term of attendance.