Return of Title IV Funds
Return of Title IV (R2T4)
As a result of the Higher Education Act of 1998, a student who completely withdraws from classes may be required to pay a percentage of federal financial aid received. Additionally, withdrawing from classes can cause a student to lose financial aid (suspension) because of Satisfactory Academic Progress.
All students receiving federal financial aid who completely withdraw, officially or unofficially, are subject to the federal repayment law. Simply put, any federal financial aid recipient who withdraws within the first 60% of the term (measured in calendar days) owes a portion of financial aid back to the federal government and a portion back to the school. This situation is called a Return of Title IV, or R2T4
Types of Withdrawals
For official withdrawal procedures, please see the college catalog. Students may withdraw via the eSantaFe student portal, or by contacting the Registrar's Office. The Registrar's Office, located in R-101, is the designated office to contact about withdrawing from the college, though withdrawing or dropping courses can affect your financial aid, too.
Unofficial Withdrawal (Dropping or Stopping Out):
How financial aid is affected by stopping attendance, dropping classes, or failing to complete the course with an F grade: Federal regulations require a student to complete the term for which they were funded. If you have withdrawn from all of your classes, stopped attending all your classes, or did not fully complete any of your classes (received all F's for non-attendance), the College is required to calculate how much of the semester you did attend to determine how much of the aid you have "earned." You will be required to pay back the portion of financial aid you did not earn.
How the calculation is done: When the Financial Aid Office calculates the Return to Title IV calculation we must use the last date of enrollment and/ or your last date of academic activity, as reported by your instructors, and recorded in the system to determine how much aid you have earned. This date determines how much, if anything, you must repay if you do not successfully complete any of your courses.
Please note, you may not be required to repay your financial aid under these rules if you only drop one or two courses and remain enrolled in and complete at least one financial aid funded course. It is only required when a student is no longer enrolled in or does not pass all courses for a particular term (A and B terms included).
Consequences of Complete Withdrawal in a Term
In general, a portion of federal financial aid (Title IV) grant or loan funds must be returned to the U.S. Department of Education upon a student's withdrawal from school, if 60% of the term isn't completed. The student and the school are both responsible for returning unearned federal financial aid to the federal government. The student will be billed by the College for any amount due as a result of the return of federal aid funds (R2T4) calculation.
Consequence 1: The student owes the federal government
The College will inform the student that a repayment is due to the federal government, due within 45 days.
- If paid within the 45 days, the school can accept payment and provide it to the Department of Education on your behalf to settle your account with them.
- If a student does not repay the grant funds that are owed to the government within 45 days, the account will be turned over to the U.S. Department of Education as an overpayment of federal funds.
- Students who owe an overpayment of Title IV funds are ineligible for further disbursements from federal financial aid programs at any institution until the overpayment is paid in full or payment arrangements are made with the U.S. Department of Education.
Consequence 2: The student owes the College for the portion the College paid
The College may also owe a portion of the repayment as part of this process, and schools are permitted to seek repayment of this amount from the student.
- Any amount that the College repays for this process will be billed to the student, creating a student financial obligation to the College.
- If a student does not pay funds due Santa Fe College to cover their balance, the student's records will be placed on financial hold.
- A financial hold or obligation means he/she will not be permitted to register for
classes or receive transcripts until the balance is paid.
Consequence 3: The student may lose financial aid, or lose it in the future
Official and unofficial withdrawals/drops affect the overall financial aid standing, even if the student has a petition to the Registrar to Drop with a Refund for the subject classes.
- To continuing receiving financial aid, federal law requires that students must maintain certain academic standards, called Satisfactory Academic Progress (SAP).
- Withdrawals and drops still count as attempted hours for the completed vs. earned hours, and it can cause students to max out financial aid.
- Please see the Satisfactory Academic Progress web page for details on academic requirements for keeping financial aid.
Refund Policies
- College refund policy dictates that fees will be refunded in full for coursework dropped on or before the Last Day to Drop Classes, or for coursework canceled by the college.
- Tuition and fees for coursework dropped or withdrawn after the Last Day to Drop Classes date will not be refunded, unless through an approved Drop with a Refund petition through the Registrar's Office.
- In all cases, the federal repayment policy supersedes the college refund policy for students receiving federal financial aid and completely withdrawing from the college.
- These policies are outlined in the College Catalog and the Financial Aid Handbook.
Return to Title IV (R2T4) Details
Return of Title IV laws use the terms "earned" and "unearned" Title IV funds when relating the amount of assistance applicable to the percentage of time enrolled. It is the unearned portion that becomes the focus of the Return of Title IV Funds formula.
The school must first determine the percentage of Title IV assistance the student earned. Up through the 60 percent point in time, the percentage of assistance earned is equal to the percentage of the payment period completed as of the day the student withdrew. If the withdrawal occurs after the 60 percent point, then the percentage earned is 100 percent, and no refund/repayment is required. The difference between the earned Title IV assistance and 100 percent equals the percentage of unearned Title IV funds that are therefore subject to repayment by the school and/or the student. Any required repayment is allocated back to the Title IV programs in order specified by law.* A student must repay the portion of the original grant overpayment that is in excess of half of the total Title IV grant funds that he or she received or could have received. The student does not have to repay grant overpayments of $50 or less per program. Any repayment of Title IV loans is to be repaid under the conditions of the existing promissory note. A student who owes a grant repayment remains ineligible for further Title IV assistance until the grant is repaid, unless the student and the U.S. Department of Education agree on a satisfactory repayment arrangement. The U.S. Department of Education allows a student to retain eligibility for 45 days from the date that the institution sends the repayment notification to the student. To continue eligibility past 45 days, the student will either have to pay the overpayment in full or make satisfactory arrangement with the U.S. Department of Education to repay.
For more specific information regarding this policy or for examples of the repayment formula, please contact the Financial Aid Office at 352-395-5480.
*Return Title IV funds in the order as specified by law:
- Unsubsidized Federal Stafford Loans
- Subsidized Federal Stafford Loans
- Unsubsidized Direct Stafford Loans
- Subsidized Direct Stafford Loans
- Federal PLUS Loans
- Direct PLUS Loans
- Federal Pell Grant
- Federal SEOG
- Other Title IV assistance