Policies & Procedures
Return of Title IV Funds Policy
Federal And State Regulation
Federal law specifies how the Financial Aid Office must determine the amount of Title IV program assistance that you earn if you withdraw or cease enrollment at Central Carolina Community College. The Title IV programs that are covered by this law are:
- Federal Pell Grants
- Federal Supplemental Educational Opportunity Grants (FSEOGs)
- Iraq and Afghanistan Service Grants
- North Carolina Community College Grant *
- North Carolina Education Lottery Grant *
- The North Carolina State Education Assistance Authority (NCSEAA) along with College Foundation Incorporated (CFI) has established a return policy for state funded grants. State grant recipients who withdraw from class or cease enrollment prior to or at the 35% point of the semester will owe a repayment.
Drops And Withdrawals
Central Carolina Community College is an institution that is required to take attendance. For students who completely withdraw or cease enrollment, the withdrawal date is the student's last day of attendance of a documented academically related activity. Students can officially or unofficially withdraw from the College, which both lead to a recalculation of the student's aid.
Official Withdrawal: When a student initiates the withdrawal process by either notifying the instructor(s) or Registration Office of his/her intent to cease enrollment.
Unofficial Withdrawal: A student who stops attending classes or ceases enrollment at the College without following CCCC's official withdrawal procedure. When a student receives all F's, W's, or a combination of these grades for a semester, he or she may be defined as 'unofficially withdrawn' for Title IV purposes.
A student who attends and completes at least one course that spans the entire term will have earned the aid for that term (as adjusted for dropped classes or classes not attended).
Recalculation Of Aid
Though your aid is posted to your account at the start of each period, you earn the funds as you complete the period. If you withdraw during your payment period or period of enrollment, 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 and/or you.
The amount of assistance that you have earned is determined on a pro rata basis. Once you have completed more than 60% of the payment period or period of enrollment, you earn all the assistance that you were scheduled to receive for that period.
Recalculation is based on the percent of earned aid using the following formula:
# of days completed up to the withdrawal date divided by the total days in the semester = percent of aid earned
Returning Funds
If you did not receive all of the funds that you earned, you may be due a post-withdrawal disbursement. Central Carolina will automatically use all or a portion of your post-withdrawal disbursement of grant funds for tuition, fees, and room and board charges.
If you receive excess Title IV program funds that must be returned, Central Carolina Community College must return a portion of the excess equal to the lesser of:
- Your institutional charges multiplied by the unearned percentage of your funds, or
- The entire amount of excess funds.
CCCC must return this amount even if it didn't keep this amount of your Title IV program funds. There may be instances when CCCC is not required to return all of the excess funds, you must return the remaining amount.
Overpayment
Any amount of unearned grant funds that you must return is called an overpayment. The maximum amount of a grant overpayment that you must repay is half of the grant funds you received or were scheduled to receive. You do not have to repay a grant overpayment if the original amount of the overpayment is $50 or less. You must make arrangements with your school or the Department of Education to return the unearned grant funds.
The requirements for Title IV program funds when you withdraw are separate from CCCC's refund policy. Therefore, you may still owe funds to the school to cover unpaid institutional charges.
CCCC may also charge you for any Title IV program funds that the College was required to return. Please see CCCC's Refund Policy listed below.
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.
CCCC Refund Policy - Tuition
A tuition refund shall not be made except for the following circumstances:
- A 100% refund shall be made if the student officially withdraws prior to the first day of the academic semester as noted in the college calendar. Also, a student is eligible for a 100% refund if the class in which the student is officially registered fails to "make" due to insufficient enrollment.
- A 75% refund shall be made if the student officially withdraws from the class(es) prior to or on the official 10 percent point of the semester.
Should a student, having paid the required tuition for a term, die during that term (prior to or on the last day of examinations), all tuition and fees for that semester may be refunded to the estate of the deceased. This is state policy as stated in the North Carolina Administrative Code, Chapter 23 2D.0202.