The law specifies how Western Washington University must determine the amount of Federal Student Aid (FSA) assistance that you earn if you withdraw from school. The FSA programs that are covered by this law are: Federal Pell Grants, Stafford Loans, PLUS Loans, Federal Supplemental Educational Opportunity Grants (FSEOGs), Federal Perkins Loans and in some cases, and Washington State Need Grants.
When you withdraw during the quarter the amount of FSA program assistance that you have earned up to that point is determined by a specific formula. If you received (or Western or your parent received on your behalf) less assistance than the amount that you earned, you may be able to receive those additional funds. If you received more assistance than you earned, the excess funds must be returned by Western and/or you.
The amount of assistance that you have earned is determined on a pro-rata basis. For example, if you completed 30 percent of your payment period or period of enrollment, you earn 30 percent of the assistance you were originally scheduled to receive. Once you have completed more than 60 percent of the payment period or period of enrollment, you earn all the assistance that you were scheduled to receive.
If you did not receive all of the funds that you earned, you may be due a post-withdrawal disbursement. If the post-withdrawal disbursement includes loan funds, you have fourteen days to decline the additional loan funds so that you don’t incur additional debt. Western will automatically use all or a portion of your post-withdrawal disbursement (including loan funds if you accept them) for tuition, fees, and room and board charges. For all other school charges, Western needs your permission to use the post-withdrawal disbursement. If you do not give your permission, you will be offered the funds. However, it may be in your best interest to allow Western to keep the funds to reduce your debt.
There are some FSA funds that you were scheduled to receive that you cannot earn once you withdraw because of other eligibility requirements. For example, if you are a first-time first-year undergraduate student and you have not completed the first 30 days of your program before you withdraw, you will not earn any FFEL or Direct loan funds that you would have received had you remained enrolled past the 30th day.
If you receive (or Western or your parent receives on your behalf) excess FSA program funds that must be returned, Western must return a portion of the excess equal to the lesser of:
Western must return this amount even if it didn’t keep this amount of your FSA program funds.
If Western 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 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 amount of a grant overpayment that you must repay is half of the unearned amount. You must make arrangements with Western or the Department of Education to return the unearned grant funds.
The requirements for FSA program funds when you withdraw are separate from any refund policy that Western has. Therefore, you may still owe funds to Western to cover unpaid institutional charges. Western may also charge you for any FSA program funds that Western was required to return. If you don’t already know what Western’s refund policy is, you can ask Student Accounts for a copy or click here to view on the web. The Registrar or Student Accounts can also provide you with the requirements and procedures for officially withdrawing from school.
If you have questions about your FSA program funds, you can call the Federal Student Aid Information Center at 1-800-4-FED-AID (1-800-433-3243). The Center accepts calls from 8 a.m. , to midnight (EST), seven days a week. TTY users may call 1-800-730-8913. Information is also available on the U.S. Department of Education’s Financial Aid for Students Home Page.
