Repayment Policy

Important Notice to All Federal Financial Aid Recipients: The federal Higher Education Act (HEA) of 1965 was amended in 1998 and new regulations were established with regard to Title IV student financial aid programs. Students earn their Title IV federal financial aid by attending class and if they are not enrolled long enough to earn all of their aid, the unearned portion must be returned to the appropriate Title IV program.

Title IV financial aid programs include Federal Pell Grant, Federal Supplemental Educational Opportunity Grant (SEOG), Federal Work-Study (FWS), and Federal Stafford Loans. Federal Work-Study earnings are not affected by Title IV regulations concerning the return of unearned federal financial aid. Only grants and loans are affected by this policy.

The Return of Unearned Title IV Funds Policy applies if the student withdraws from, changes enrollment status from credit to audit or ceases attending all classes before the sixty percent point in the term. Students who are granted Incomplete grades and do not finish in accordance with school policy may also be subject to a Title IV Return calculation. Withdrawing from all classes provides notification to the Registrars Office of intent to withdraw from Central Oregon Community College (COCC). Completely withdrawing from, auditing or ceasing to attend may result in financial aid repayment. Withdrawing may also affect future financial aid eligibility. Please speak to a financial aid specialist before withdrawing from classes at COCC.

Withdrawal Information: Students cannot earn all of their financial aid unless they attend and participate in class for at least 60% of the term. This calculation counts all calendar days, including the first and last day of each term, weekends and holidays. The chart below summarizes the 60 percent dates for each term for the 2021-22 award year. Students must stay in school through the dates below to avoid possible repayment of unearned financial aid. **Students with module classes, see 'Module Classes' section below.**

	Term	60% Completion Date
Minimum Requirements: You must attend and participate in class through these dates to avoid having to repay any financial aid	Summer 2023	August 6, 2023
	Fall 2023	November 13, 2023
	Winter 2024	February 22, 2024
	Spring 2024	May 16, 2024

Module Classes: Module classes are defined as any class that does not span the entire length of the term. These classes may also be referred to as part of term, late starting or short term classes.

Federal regulation: Any student who is enrolled in at least one class that is less than the length of the term is classified for that term as a module student. This means that even if the student enrolls in and passes a module class or classes, then drops, audits or stops attending remaining full term classes, he/she may be subject to a TIV Return calculation (a charge to the students account for return of unearned tuition) if the total number of days attended in the term is less than 60%.

Financial Aid implications:
Example:

Student enrolls in two module classes, both spanning the first five weeks of the term, and one full term class.
PSY 201 4 credits MODULE Final grade - B
PSY 202 4 credits MODULE Final grade - A
MTH 095 4 credits FULL TERM Withdrew on the 33rd day of the term
Student is paid financial aid based on attendance for the full term
Student finishes the module classes, but drops the full term class the same day the module classes ended.
Term length is 77 days x 60% = 47 days
Module classes were 33 days in length (33/77 = 42.9%)
Earned tuition is 42.9%, unearned is 57.1%
Student is subject to a TIV Return calculation because he earned less than 60% of his tuition
SAP status for the term is: GPA > 2.0 and completion rate is 66.67%

COCC and the student will be required to return to the federal aid programs the amount of aid received in excess of the aid "earned" for the period the student remained enrolled. The portion of financial aid grants and loans funded, excluding Federal Work-Study, which must be returned to financial aid programs will be based on the following components:

Date of withdrawal as determined by the college based on one of the following	The date the student drops from class as reported by the registrar, OR The midpoint of the term, if the student doesn't officially withdraw. Grades of W, X, Y, and F indicate an unofficial withdrawal
Percentage of the enrollment period earned	Divide the number of days attended by the number of days in the term (including weekends and holidays) If official withdrawal occurs after the 60% date, the student has earned all of the financial aid received and no refund will be required
Subtract the percentage earned from 100% to determine the percentage unearned	Multiply the total federal aid received by the calculated percentage unearned. This reflects the total amount of unearned federal aid
Calculation of Institutional Return	Multiply the percent unearned by the institutional costs to determine the unearned institutional return. Requires student repayment to COCC
Calculation of Student Return	Subtract institutional return from the total amount of unearned federal aid. Requires student repayment to Department of Education or Lender

Unearned Title IV funds are returned to Title IV programs based on a federally mandated formula. Under this formula, institutions are obligated to return unearned funds collected for institutional charges to the Department of Education and/or the student loan lender. Students are obligated to return unearned funds beyond the institutional charges to the Department of Education.

When institutions have to return unearned Title IV funds from institutional charges, the money is returned to programs in the following order: Unsubsidized Stafford Loan, Subsidized Stafford Loan, PLUS Loans, Pell Grant and FSEOG. These unearned Title IV funds are posted to the students COCC account and must be repaid.

When a student has to return unearned Title IV funds that he/she received beyond the institutional charges, the money is returned to programs in the following order: Unsubsidized Stafford Loan, Subsidized Stafford Loan, PLUS Loans, Pell Grant (50%) and FSEOG (50%). Note that students responsibility for repayment of unearned Title IV grant money is reduced by half.

If a student owes unearned Title IV funds from a federal loan, the money is repaid to the lender in accordance with the terms and conditions of the promissory note.

The college is required to notify the student within 45 days of determining the students withdrawal of any student portion of unearned Title IV funds from a federal grant. The student is allowed 45 days to repay the amount to Central Oregon Community College who will forward the funds to the Department of Education. After that time payment arrangements must be made with the Department of Education or eligibility for federal financial aid at any higher education institution will be denied. The student also needs to repay to the institution the money that COCC is required to return to the Department of Education for the unearned institutional charges.

The institutional charges (tuition and fees) incurred by the student are considered to be paid by Title IV funds for the purpose of the formula, even if the institutional charges were directly paid by a source other than Title IV funds.

Students can repay the student portion of federal loans under the terms and conditions of the promissory note for the loan. However, the unearned portion of the loans that COCC must return is posted as a charge to the student account and must be repaid.