The law
specifies how SMU must determine the amount of Title IV program assistance that
you “earn” if you withdraw from school. The Title IV programs that are covered
by this law are: Federal Pell Grant, Federal ACG Grant, Federal SMART Grant,
Stafford Loan, PLUS Loan, Federal SEOG, Federal Perkins Loan and in some cases,
certain state grant aid (LEAP/SLEAP), to students.
When you
withdraw during your term payment period, the amount of Title IV program
assistance that you have earned up to that point is determined by a specific
formula. If you received 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 the school.
The amount
of assistance that you have “earned” is determined on a pro rata basis. For
example, if you completed 30% of your term payment period, you earn 30% of the
assistance you were originally scheduled to receive. Once you have completed
more than 60% of the term payment period, you “earned” all the assistance that
you were scheduled to receive for that period.
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 may
choose to decline the loan funds so that you don’t incur additional debt. Your
school may automatically use all or a portion of your post-withdrawal
disbursement (including loan funds, if you accept them) for SMU tuition, fees
and room and board charges. For all other SMU charges, the school needs your
permission (with the completion of the “Authorization to Credit Account” (ACA)
form completed when you entered SMU) to use the post-withdrawal disbursement. It
may be in your best interest to allow the school to keep the funds to reduce
your debt at the school.
Any amount
of unearned grant funds that must be returned is called an overpayment.
The amount of a grant overpayment that you must repay is half of the unearned
amount. SMU will return the amount of unearned grant funds to the Department of
Education for you.
The
requirements for Title IV program funds when you withdraw are separate from
SMU’s refund policy. Therefore, you may still owe funds to SMU to cover unpaid
institutional charges. SMU may also have to charge you for any Title IV program
funds that SMU was required to return. You can review SMU’s refund policy of
reduction of tuition and fees at
www.smu.edu/bursar, or by calling 214-768-3417.
Students who receive any financial aid should discuss prior to withdrawal the
financial implications of the withdrawal with their financial aid advisors in
the Division of Enrollment Services—Financial Aid by calling 214-768-3417.
You
can view the requirements and procedures for officially withdrawing from SMU at
www.smu.edu/registrar.
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. Information is also available on Student Aid on the
Web at www.studentaid.ed.gov.
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