Federal Refund Policies for Recipients of Title IV Federal Financial Aid

Student Responsibilities

It is the student's responsibility to notify the Financial Aid Office if he or she is a financial aid recipient and withdraws from all classes at any point during the term. If students withdraw from all classes at any point during the semester, the Financial Aid Office will determine whether they are eligible for a cancellation of charges for tuition and mandatory fees; and, if so, the correct payment of the refund to the various financial aid programs, beginning with federal loans.

It is to a student's benefit to immediately notify the Registrar and the Financial Aid Office when he or she stops attending classes with the intent to withdraw.

If students or parents received funds under federal or university loan programs, it is their responsibility to notify the lender or holder of loans that they are no longer enrolled on at least a half-time basis. Student borrowers of federal or university loans must also satisfy exit loan counseling requirements.

Cancellation of Charges

In addition to the university refund policy outlined below, students who are recipients of Title IV federal financial aid are also covered by federal refund policies. The federal refund policy provides for a prorated cancellation of institutional costs proportional to the duration of student enrollment only in cases where the student withdraws from all classes. For example, students who withdraw from all classes 50 percent of the way through the semester may be entitled to a 25 percent cancellation of charges for institutional costs if they are continuing students, or a 50 percent cancellation of charges if they are new students (see the table below) As Title IV federal financial aid recipients, students are entitled to a cancellation of charges under the policy, university or federal, that provides for the largest refund to the federal financial aid programs from which they received funds.

Federal Refund Policies

Title IV federal financial aid

Students are considered recipients of Title IV federal financial aid if they have used funds from one or more of the following programs to meet educational expenses for the semester in question: Federal Stafford Loan (Subsidized and Unsubsidized), Federal PLUS Loan, Federal Perkins Loan, Federal Pell Grant, Federal Supplemental Equal Opportunity Grant (FSEOG), Federal Work Study.

Institutional Costs

Institutional costs include charges for tuition and mandatory fees as well as for room and/or board if room and/or board is billed on the USC student account. Institutional costs do not include optional expenses that may be charged to a student account, such as phone service, parking fees and fines, health insurance, health center charges or USCard charges.

Continuing Students

Continuing students who receive Title IV federal financial aid are entitled to a 25 percent cancellation of institutional costs and a refund of their financial aid if they withdraw completely between the 25 percent and 50 percent point in time for the period of enrollment (from the fourth to the seventh week of a 15 week term). For withdrawals preceding the 25 percent point in time, the USC refund policy of 100 percent usually provides a more generous refund to the Title IV financial aid programs than the federal policy of 50 percent or 90 percent cancellation of charges.

New Students

Students who are in their first semester of attendance at USC and receive federal financial aid and withdraw completely on or before the 60 percent point in time for the period of enrollment (during the ninth week of a 15 week term) are entitled to a cancellation of the remainder of their institutional costs and a refund of their financial aid minus specified unpaid institutional costs (i.e., a 40 percent cancellation of charges if they withdraw at the 60 percent point in time). Students are also considered new if they attended USC in the past but received 100 percent cancellation of charges for tuition and fees for the term(s) of previous attendance.

Period of Enrollment

At USC the periods of enrollment are generally measured on a semester basis, starting on the first day of classes and ending on the final day of examinations for a given term. Since fall and spring semesters at USC begin on a Wednesday, a week is measured from each Wednesday of a given term through the following Tuesday.

Refunds and Repayment

If the university cancels charges for tuition and fees and other institutional costs under either the university refund policy or one of the federal refund policies, and students used Title IV federal financial aid funds to help cover those costs, the financial aid office will calculate the amount of the refund to the financial aid programs.

The amount refunded to financial aid programs will be reduced by any unpaid institutional costs remaining on the student account for new students who completely withdraw before or on the 60 percent point in time for the period of enrollment. The university will also deduct an administrative fee of 5 percent or $100, whichever is less, from the amount of the total refund. If students have a large billing balance at the time of withdrawal, it is possible that no refunds will be made to the financial aid programs and they may continue to owe the university for unpaid institutional and non-institutional costs. It is also possible that once the refund payments have been made, they will owe the university for unpaid non-institutional costs, such as health insurance, phone service and USCard charges.

The amount refunded to financial aid programs will not be reduced by any unpaid charges for continuing students who completely withdraw on or before the 50 percent point in time. As a result, if they are carrying a billing balance at the time of withdrawal, they may still be liable for unpaid institutional costs as well as any non-institutional costs. The university will deduct an administrative fee of 5 percent or $100, whichever is less, from the amount of the total refund.

Whether a student is new or continuing, refunds are made to financial aid programs in the following order:

Federal Unsubsidized Stafford Loan
Federal Subsidized Stafford Loan
Federal PLUS Loan
Federal Perkins Loan
Federal Pell Grant
Federal SEOG
USC Subsidized Loan
University Grant
Outside agency scholarships
Cal Grant

Students who receive Title IV federal financial aid and received a cash disbursement of financial aid funds (excluding Federal Stafford and PLUS loan proceeds) from the Cashier's Office may be personally responsible for repayment of those financial aid funds if they withdraw completely on or before the 60 percent (new students) or 50 percent (continuing students) point in time of the period of enrollment.

If students and/or their parents made payments to their account in addition to the financial aid funds, it is possible they and/or their parents may receive a refund after the financial aid programs (including state and university programs) have been duly refunded and if no outstanding charges remain on the student account.

Federal Work-Study

Earnings under the Federal Work-Study program are not subject to refund or repayment.

Refund Percentages

Percentage of cancellation of charges for tuition and fees based on a standard 15 week term*

Week	% of term	USC	Federal	Federal
withdrawal	enrolled	refund	refund policy	refund policy
occurred		policy	new students	continuing students
1	7%	100%	90%	90%
2	13%	100%	80%	50%
3	20%	100%	80%	50%
4	27%	0%	70%	25%
5	33%	0%	60%	25%
6	40%	0%	60%	25%
7	50%	0%	50%	25%
8	53%	0%	40%	0%
9	60%	0%	40%	0%
10	67%	0%	0%	0%
11	73%	0%	0%	0%
12	80%	0%	0%	0%
13	87%	0%	0%	0%
14	93%	0%	0%	0%
15	100%	0%	0%	0%
*If the length of the academic term is either longer or shorter than the standard 15 week term, request a refund schedule from the Financial Aid Office.

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