Federal Financial Aid Refunds
Student Financial Services calculates federal financial aid refunds according to the Federal Financial Aid Refund Policy. These policies appear in the Federal Student Aid Handbook on file in the Student Financial Services office. Copies of the policy are available online.
Determining the Student’s Withdrawal Date
To calculate a financial aid refund, Student Financial Services establishes a student’s withdrawal date as indicated in the Refunds section of this bulletin. If a student did not begin the withdrawal process or otherwise notify WWU of the intent to withdraw due to illness, accident, grievous personal loss, or other circumstances beyond the student’s control, the university will stipulate the withdrawal date.
Determining the Percentage of the Quarter Completed
To determine what percentage of the quarter was completed as of the student’s withdrawal date, Student Financial Services divides the number of calendar days completed by the total number of calendar days in the quarter.
If the result is 60% or less, the student is considered to have withdrawn on or before the 60% point in the quarter. Conversely, a result in excess of 60% indicates the student withdrew after the 60% point.
Determining the Amount of Financial Aid Earned
Student Financial Services must determine how much of a student’s financial aid award for the quarter was used, or “earned,” before the student withdrew.
If the student withdraws on or before the 60% point, the student’s financial aid award is prorated. The percentage of the quarter the student completed is used as the percentage of financial aid the student is said to have earned. (The remaining percentage is considered “unearned” and must be refunded.) To convert the percentage earned into the amount earned, the percentage of aid earned is multiplied by the total amount of aid available for disbursement that quarter.
A student who withdraws after the 60% point is considered to have earned 100% of the financial aid award, and no refund is due.
Disposition of Difference Between Amount Earned and Amount Received
If the amount of financial aid earned is greater than the amount the student received, Student Financial Services must comply with the procedures for late disbursement specified by Department of Education regulations.
If the amount of financial aid earned is less than the amount the student received, Walla Walla University, the student, or both must return the unearned aid.
Student Financial Services must return the lesser of:
The amount of federal aid the student did not earn, or
The amount of costs (housing rent, cafeteria charges, etc.) the student incurred during the quarter multiplied by the percentage that was not earned.
The student (or parent in the case of a Federal PLUS loan) must return to federal loan programs any unearned loan funds (funds the student drew off the account), in accordance with the terms of the loan. The student must also return unearned grant funds. However, the student is not required to refund 50% of the grant funds received.
The overpayment is the difference between the amount of cash disbursements the student received and the amount of non-institutional expenses the student incurred during the portion of the payment period for which the student was actually enrolled. (Wages—including those earned through the Work-Study Program—and Federal Direct and PLUS Loan program funds are not counted as cash disbursements.)
Walla Walla University may recover overpayments by charging them to the student’s account, leaving no outstanding overpayments on federal aid, or report overpayments to the federal processor.
Refund Disbursement Schedule
Funds are to be credited to outstanding loan balances in the following order:
- Federal Direct Unsubsidized Loan
- Federal Direct Loan
- Federal PLUS Loan
- Federal Pell Grant
- Federal Supplemental Educational Opportunity Grant (FSEOG)
- Other federal, state, private, or institutional sources of aid
The financial aid refund disbursed must not exceed the amount of financial aid the student received from that source.
Work-Study programs are not due refunds.
Deadlines for Distributing Financial Aid Refunds
Federal regulations require Walla Walla University to process refunds within 30 days of the student’s withdrawal date.