Office of Student Financial Assistance

If a student withdraws from all classes before the start of the semester and the student has received a refund of Direct Loan funds, our office will notify Direct Loan School Services of the withdrawal. The School Services Loan Counseling area will then send a letter to the borrower asking for the return of the loan proceeds, since the student received an ineligible disbursement.

If a student withdraws from all classes after the semester or session begins, and the student has received money from a federal aid program, federal regulations require that part of the funds received be returned to the federal aid program. This includes the following grants and loans: Federal Pell Grant, Federal SEOG Grant, Academic Competitiveness Grant, National SMART Grant, Federal Stafford Loans, and Federal PLUS Loans. If the student has not attended more than 60% of the semester or session, a percentage of the federal aid money received will have to be repaid to the federal aid program.

When a student withdraws from all classes, the tuition and fees for the semester or session will be adjusted according to IU's fee refund policy. Then, if the student received money from one or more of the federal aid programs, the Office of Student Financial Assistance will calculate the amount of money that must be returned to the federal aid program(s) based upon how much of the semester or session the student attended.

First, our office will return a portion of the federal aid money used to pay institutional charges (such as tuition, fees, or university housing) on a student's account. Sometimes this will leave some IU charges unpaid, and the student will be billed for this amount. Second, if the student received federal aid funds directly (as a refund, for example) to be used for other educational expenses, the student may have to return some portion of that money. The amount due will appear on the student's bursar bill in about 45 days after the withdrawal date.

Recipients of federal financial assistance are expected to attend classes throughout the term; enrollment is monitored. Repayment of federal aid already received may be required if it is determined that the student stopped attending classes but did not officially withdraw. A student may be classified as an "unofficial withdrawal" if they receive all F grades, or all F's and W's at the end of a semester or session. The latest date of attendance recorded by the student's instructors will be used to calculate the amount of federal aid that must be repaid.

Also, if coursework is not satisfactorily completed, a student's future aid eligibility may be suspended. Please refer to Academic Progress for more information.

Return of State Funds

Grants administered by the State Student Assistance Commission of Indiana (SSACI) are awarded to eligible students based on the assumption that they will attend full-time each semester. Students who are enrolled less than full-time may lose eligibility for the SSACI Higher Education Award (O'Bannon Grant) and/or 21st Century Scholars Award. If a student drops below full-time enrollment or withdraws from all courses, the student's state grant may be cancelled, even if the grant has already credited to the student's bursar account.

SSACI grant recipients must be enrolled full-time by the SSACI census date, which is the end of the fourth week of classes for an individual semester. If a student drops classes and falls below full-time enrollment, or withdraws completely, before the SSACI census date, the student will become ineligible to receive their Higher Education Award (O'Bannon Grant) and/or 21st Century Scholars Award, and the award will be cancelled.