Return of Federal Student Aid

The Department of Education (ED) requires all schools that participate in the federal student aid programs to administer a R2T4 policy. The policy applies to Federal Pell Grant, Federal Supplemental Opportunity Grant (SEOG), and Federal Direct Student Loans (FDSL). This is not the same as the Edgecombe Tuition Refund Policy. Federal student aid recipients who either officially withdraw (those students who adhere to the official written withdrawal policy of the college) or students who unofficially withdraw (those students who cease attendance without providing notification to the college). Students who withdraw from the college prior to the 60% point in the term are subject to repaying a percentage of the federal student aid previously received. For official and unofficial withdrawals the established withdrawal dates are the last recorded dates of attendance.

If it is determined that a percentage of federal student aid previously received needs to be returned to ED based on the calculation performed by the financial aid office, the effected student is notified of the amount that is required to be re‐paid based on the R2T4 calculation. Notification is sent either by U.S. mail or Edgecombe Email.

Unearned Aid by the Institution: represents the unearned aid applied toward institutional charges and is returned within 45 days of the institution’s knowledge that the student withdrew. A charge is placed on the student’s ECC account for the percentage of institutional charges that are no longer paid as a result of the return. The student either must repay ECC immediately or make arrangements to pay the college within the same 45 day period.

Unearned Aid by the Student: represents the total unearned aid less the amount unearned by the institution. Because the student is no longer attending school, he/she will simply enter the “grace” period of the loans and the student will return no loan funds. In the case of grants, half of the grant is protected and excluded from the calculation. The student will not be required to return any grant funds if the amount is $50 or less. Any grant funds the student is required to return are automatically returned to the federal programs by ECC. The student is then billed for the amounts returned. Because ECC returns the funds, the student does not have an overpayment and is eligible to receive financial aid in future terms. If the student is identified as withdrawing under circumstances outlined in the Heroes Act of 2003 or the student is deceased, the student portion of unearned grant aid is not returned.

Post‐withdrawal Disbursement: If the student has used less federal student aid than he/she was eligible to receive according to the number of days he/she attended then ECC can process a post withdrawal disbursement.

The Financial Aid Office encourages students to read this policy carefully. If the student is considering withdrawing (dropping) all classes before the 60% point in the term, the student should consult with a financial aid staff member to learn how the student’s aid may be affected.