47.12 Treatment of Title IV Funds

If a student completes all required coursework prior to completing all of the established hours in the program, Great Plains Financial Aid Office will be required to re-prorate the amount of Title IV aid (Pell Grant) the student qualifies for. If it is determined that an overpayment has occurred, the student will be responsible for repaying the funds to the school. The student will be notified of any overpayment due.

To officially withdraw from Great Plains Technology Center, students must contact the Student Office located in Building 100 to complete an official Withdrawal form.

An unofficial withdrawal will be completed on any student who is absent five (5) consecutive school days without contacting the school and the effective date shall be the last date of attendance.

The institution must perform a R2T4 to determine the amount of earned aid through the 60% point in each payment period or period of enrollment.

The institution will use the Department of Education’s prorated schedule to determine the amount of the R2T4 funds the student has earned at the time of withdrawal.

Students are notified by letter within 30 days if a balance is due based on the Return to Title IV calculations. Students have 45 days from the date of the letter to repay the school the amount due. At the end of the 45-day period, if the student fails to pay the amount due, he/she will be reported to the U.S. Department of Education for collection and an overpayment alert will be posted in NSLDS by the school. The student will not be eligible for Title IV assistance until the overpayment is resolved.

Title IV aid is earned in a prorated manner on a per diem basis (calendar days or clock hours) up to the 60% point in the semester. Title IV aid is viewed as 100% earned after that point in time. A copy of the worksheet used for this calculation can be requested from the Financial Aid Coordinator.

The withdrawal date is determined by the school’s student accounting system and shall be the last date of attendance.

Great Plains Technology Center measures progress in Clock Hours and uses the payment period for the period of calculation.

If a student did not receive all of the funds that he/she has earned, he/she may be due a post-withdraw disbursement. The school is required to notify the student if they owe a repayment via written notice. The school must advise the student or parent that they have 14 calendar days from the date that the school sent the notification to accept a post withdraw disbursement. If a response is not received from the student or parent within the allowed time frame or the student declines the funds, the school will return any earned funds that the school is holding to the Title IV programs. Post-withdraw disbursements may occur within 90 days of the date that the student withdrew.
Great Plains Technology Center will issue a grant overpayment notice to a student within 30 days from the date of the school’s determination that student withdrew, giving the student 45 days to either:

a) Repay the overpayment in full to Great Plains Technology Center OR;
b) Sign a repayment agreement with the U.S. Department of Education.

Great Plains Technology Center is authorized to return any excess funds after applying them to outstanding balances on previous periods or other remaining institutional cost to the separate funds in the order of Pell Grant and then student.

Student can request a sample of the Institutional Return to Title IV Calculation work sheet from the Financial Aid Office.

• Federal Pell Grant
• Iraq and Afghanistan Service Grant for which a Return is required
• Federal Supplemental Opportunity Grants
• Other FSA Programs
• Other federal, state, private or institutional sources of aid

Great Plains Technology Center will return their portion of unearned aid within 30 days of the date the financial aid office was made aware of the student’s last date of attendance and/or withdrawal.

Great Plains Technology Center’s responsibilities in regard to Title IV funds follow: a) Providing students information within this policy; b) Identifying students who are affected by this policy and completing the return of the Title IV funds calculations for those students; c) Returning any Title IV funds due the Title IV programs.

The institution is not always required to return all of the excess funds; there are situations once the R2T4 calculations have been completed in which the student must return the unearned aid.

Any amount of unearned grant funds that a student must return is called overpayment. The amount of grant overpayment that a student must repay is half of the grant funds he/she received or was scheduled to receive. A student must make arrangements with Great Plains Technology Center or the Department of Education to return the amount of unearned grant funds.

Includes: a) Returning to the Title IV programs any funds that were dispersed to the student in which the student was determined to be ineligible for via the Return of Title IV funds calculation; b) Any notification of withdraw should be in writing and addressed to the appropriate institutional official; c) A student may rescind his or her notification of intent to withdraw but any submission of such notice must be filed in writing; d) Either of these notifications, to withdraw or rescind to withdraw, must be made to the official records/registration personnel at the school.

The requirements for the Title IV program funds, when a student withdraws, are separate from any refund policy that Great Plains Technology Center may have to return to the student due to a cash credit balance. Therefore, a student may still owe funds to the school to cover unpaid institutional charges. If the student does not already know what Great Plains Technology Center’s Policy is, he/she can refer to the Great Plains Technology Center’s Student Handbook.

If a student has questions regarding Title IV program funds after visiting with the Financial Aid Coordinator the student may call the Federal Student Aid Information Center at 1-800-4-FEDAID (800-433-3243). TTY users may call 800-730-8913. Information is also available @ Federal Student Aid Website.