What is Title IV Aid?

Title IV of the Higher Education Act of 1965, as amended in 1998, (Title IV, and HEA program) establishes general rules that apply to federal student financial assistance programs. For purposes of Return of Title IV Funds, these programs include: Pell and Federal Supplemental Educational Opportunity (FSEOG) Grants, Direct Loans, Direct PLUS Loans, and Perkins Loans.

What Return of Title IV Funds Means to Financial Aid Recipients

The Return of Title IV Funds policies applies to any student who withdraws, is dismissed, or leaves the institution without notice. This policy applies to students that discontinue enrollment in all classes, on, or after the first day of the term. When you withdraw, two separate calculations must take place:

  1. A refund of institutional charges and fees must be calculated by the Bursar’s office.
  2. The Financial Aid Office must calculate the Return of federal funds.

If you cancel your registration prior to the first day of classes, this policy will not apply to you. Also, if you drop some but not all of your classes, these policies will not apply; however, you should notify the Financial Aid Office because your continued eligibility may be affected. See the Satisfactory Academic Progress (SAP) policy for more information.

Return of Title IV Funds (Earned versus Unearned Aid)

Within 45 days from when you discontinue enrollment, the Financial Aid Office must calculate the amount of financial aid you have earned prior to the date the action was filed. Any aid received in excess of the earned amount is considered unearned. The unearned financial aid must be returned to the respective federal programs no later than 45 days from when you separated from Regis. The calculation is based upon only the amount of Title IV Aid for which you were eligible. You are not considered eligible if your application for federal assistance is incomplete or if your application was selected for federal verification and the Financial Aid Office was not able to complete the verification process.

Calculating Earned Financial Aid

The amount of earned financial aid is calculated on a daily basis from the first day of classes. The process uses calendar rather than business days. Earned aid is determined by taking the number of days attended before enrollment ended divided by the total number of days in the term (first day of instruction until the last day of finals, excluding breaks five days or greater for semester students).

Example of calculation: This is an undergraduate student who withdraws during the fourth week of the fall semester.

  • Number of days in the semester: 105
  • Number of days attended: 25
  • Earned Financial Aid: 23.8% (This is the % of aid the student is allowed to keep)
  • Unearned Financial Aid: 76.2% (This is the % of aid that must be returned to the Federal Government)

Return policies apply to students that withdraw on or before the 60% point of the term. For a student who withdraws after the 60% point-in-time, there is no unearned financial aid. However a student is responsible for repayment of any loans borrowed.

Late or Post-Withdrawal Disbursement

Students may be eligible for a late or post-withdrawal disbursement if they have accepted aid that did not disburse at the time of withdrawal.

Students will be notified in writing if they are eligible for such a disbursement and given the opportunity to accept the disbursement or a potion thereof. If no response is received within approximately two weeks of notification, the award will be canceled and the student will no longer be eligible.

Unofficial Administrative Withdrawal

Financial Aid reviews posted grades every term. If a student receives all non-passing grades, attendance will be verified with the academic faculty members and if attendance cannot be verified a student will be determined to have unofficially withdrawn.

The last date of attendance will be determined as the last day of academic activity.

Students are notified via U.S. mail if they are considered an unofficial withdrawal.

Students may appeal this unofficial withdrawal with proof of attendance in the term.

Calculating Return of Title IV Aid Amount

Once the earned and unearned aid percentages are determined, the next step is to calculate the dollar amount of unearned aid that must be returned. The Return amount is determined by multiplying the unearned aid percentage by the total of all Title IV aid received.

Unearned Aid Percentage x Total of all Title IV Funds Received = Total Unearned Aid

The amount of unearned aid that must be returned is a percentage of the institutional charges for the term. Once the dollar amount of the school portion of the Return is determined, it is compared to the total amount of all unearned aid. Regis must return the amount of the unearned aid received.

Financial aid will be returned to the appropriate aid program. This is the program from which the aid was disbursed. If returned to a loan program, an outstanding loan balance will be reduced by the amount of the return. The return of funds may cause an amount due to the school.

If you have questions about your Title IV program funds, you can call the Federal Student Aid Information Center at 1.800.4.FEDAID (1.800.433.3243). TTY users may call 1.800.730.8913.

Title IV Credit Refund Description

Regis College identifies credit vouchers requests from Title IV funds with the description “Financial aid” on the student accounts statement available to all students from Hub. Regis College is only acknowledging that the credit voucher was submitted to our partner Nelnet to start the refund process. Nelnet, which is Regis College’s third-party partner, issues the Title IV refunds directly to the student via paper check or direct deposit depending on the student’s choice. Nelnet will record the date the refund is issued in their system when the actual refund is sent to the student or direct deposited on the student’s bank account. All Regis College students have access to their Nelnet portal via Hub under Student Finance.

Return of Institutional Funds

Students who receive institutional aid (grants, scholarships) will have these forms of aid refunded in the same percent as the refund of tuition and fees.

Return of MA State Funds

Federal Formula used for Massachusetts State Grants

Whether or not you are receiving any of the types of federal aid listed, students that received any Massachusetts state funds (MASSGrant and/or Gilbert Grant) are required to go through a similar calculation to the Federal calculation above to determine the portion of these funds that are unearned.

Return of Outside Grants and Scholarships

Any refund and/or repayment of private and third-party scholarships is determined by the donor.

Return of Private Loans

Any refund of private loans may be done depending on any necessary adjustments to the students cost of attendance budget and other aid they're entitled to receive based on the above calculations.