Return of Title IV Funds
Martinsburg College follows the requirements for the Return of Title IV Aid as outlined in the FSA Handbook. The college utilizes worksheets available from the Department of Education.
Martinsburg College utilizes the Department’s Return of Title IV Funds’ web product available on the CPS Online website.
The first step in the Return of Title IV Aid calculation is to determine the percentage of the payment period the student participated (attended) before withdrawing from his/her program. For Title IV purposes, the last date of attendance is the last documented date of participation in an academically related activity (i.e., documented participation in an online classroom, submission of an assignment in a distance learning course, participation in an instructor-student conference, examination, interactive tutorial, or computer-assisted instruction). For official withdrawals, or, if a student does not follow the official withdrawal procedure and it is subsequently determined that the student is an unofficial withdrawal, the effective withdrawal date is the last date of participation (attendance) in an academically-related activity. If a student experiences circumstances beyond the student’s control, such as accident, illness, or grievous personal loss, the withdrawal date will be the date that the institution determines is related to that circumstance, unless attendance at an academically-related activity at a later date is documented. If a student attends through 60 percent of the payment period, all Title IV aid is considered earned. The following steps will be followed to determine the amount of Title IV aid to be returned:
Step 1: Determine the student’s Title IV aid information, which includes the amount of Title IV disbursed and the amount of Title IV aid that could have been disbursed.
Step 2: Determine the percentage of Title IV aid earned by the student by dividing the calendar days completed in the payment period by the total calendar days in the payment period.
Step 3: Calculate the amount of Title IV aid earned by multiplying the percentage of Title IV earned by the total Title IV disbursed or that could have been disbursed for the period.
Step 4: Determine the amount of Title IV aid to be disbursed or returned by subtracting the amount of Title IV aid earned by the student from the Total Title IV aid disbursed for the period.
Step 5: Determine the amount of Unearned Title IV due from the school by comparing the amount of Title IV Aid to be returned to the amount of unearned charges.
Step 6: Determine the Return of Funds by the School. The school must return the unearned Title IV aid for which the school is responsible by repaying funds to the following sources, in order:
- Pell Grant
- Iraq and Afghanistan Service Grants
Step 7: Calculate the Unearned Title IV aid due from the student by subtracting the amount the school needs to return from the Total Amount of Title IV aid to be returned.
Step 8: Determine if there are Unearned Grant Funds that must be returned to the Pell Grant Program or Iraq and Afghanistan Service Grant Program by the student.
Title IV program funds that must be returned by the college will be returned as soon as possible, but not later than 45 days after determining the student has withdrawn.
Post-withdrawal disbursements from grants will be disbursed as soon as possible, but always within 45 days. All post-withdrawal disbursements are applied to the student’s account first, and any resulting credit balance is disbursed as soon as possible, but no later than 14 days after the credit balance is created.
If a student withdraws and has a current credit balance reflected on his/her/their account, the credit balance will be held until the Return to Title IV calculation and the institutional refund calculation are performed. These calculations will determine the final credit balance, if any, that will be issued to the student as soon as possible and within 14 days of the date the Return to Title IV calculation is performed.
The Return of Title IV funds calculation also determines if a student must repay Title IV grant funds. Any amount of unearned Title IV grant funds that a student must repay is called an overpayment. The maximum amount of Title IV grant funds that must be repaid is one half of the grant funds a student received or was scheduled to receive. If a student is required to repay grant funds, the funds must be repaid with 45 days of being notified or the student will be referred to the U.S. Department of Education. Any student who does not repay the Title IV grant funds owed with 45 days of notification or does not enter into a satisfactory repayment arrangement with the U.S. Department of Education will be ineligible for future Title IV aid at any institution.