Withdrawal and Refund Policy

Students may withdraw from a Career Certification Program by notifying the Program Administrator in writing. Students already attending classes must submit their written notification within seven (7) days of their last day in attendance. Upon receipt of written notification of withdrawal the following prorated refund policy will apply:

Full-Time Credential Programs (600 hours or more):

Timeframe	Amount Charged
Prior to 1st day	Withdrawal fee, plus registration fee
1st Day – 30 scheduled hours	25% of total program tuition and fees, plus books supplies and tools
31-60 scheduled hours	50% of total program tuition and fees, plus books, supplies and tools
61-90 scheduled hours	75% of total program tuition and fees, plus books, supplies and tools
91 or more scheduled hours	100% of total program tuition and fees, plus books, supplies and tools

Credential Programs (below 600 hours):

Timeframe	Amount Charged
Prior to 1st scheduled day	Withdrawal fee, plus registration fee
Prior to 3rd scheduled day	50% of total program tuition and fees, plus books, supplies and tools
On or after 3rd scheduled day	100% of program tuition and fees, plus books, supplies and tools

When calculating refunds, failure to submit written notification of withdrawal will result in the Adult Career Center waiting 10 calendar days from your last day in attendance to officially withdraw you from the program and defining that 10th day as your official withdrawal date. The refund process of any credit balance can take up to 14 days from the school’s determination of withdrawal and the date the credit balance occurred on the student’s account. Refund checks will be mailed to the student unless other arrangements are made at the time of withdrawal.

Please Note:

• The term “withdraw” defines any reason for a student leaving school, whether it is initiated by the student or by the school.
• The term “total program tuition” defines the program in its entirety (start date to end date), not per payment period.
• The only mark given for withdrawing from a certification program after classes have begun is a “W.”

Students receiving the Pell Grant, Direct Student Loans and/or other financial assistance who withdraw or are terminated from a Career Certification Program may no longer be eligible for the full amount of financial assistance he/she was originally scheduled to receive. Though a student’s aid is determined prior to the start of each payment period, the student earns the funds as he completes the period. When a student is withdrawn, the student may not have earned the full amount of Title IV funds that he was originally scheduled to receive. The student earns his Title IV funds by successfully attending classes. If the student received less assistance than the amount that he earned, he may be able to receive those additional funds. If the student received more assistance than he earned, the excess funds must be returned by the school and/or the student upon leaving school. This means the student may end up owing money to the Adult Career Center MCCTC and/or the Department of Education. Therefore students planning to withdraw should schedule an appointment with the Financial Aid Administrator before exiting the program to discuss their aid eligibility and financial responsibilities.

Regardless of circumstances, students receiving Title IV funds that are withdrawn or terminated from a Pell eligible program are subject to the U.S. Department of Education’s Return of Title IV Funds Policy (see the MCCTC Student Catalog – Addendum A, Financial Aid Procedures). Title IV eligibility is calculated based on the student’s last day in attendance; students receiving Veterans Benefits or other third party agency (e.g., TAA, WIA, MCTA) funding are subject to the return of funds policy governing that agency. For information on policies governing Veterans Benefits call the Department of Veteran Affairs Education Customer Service Office at 1-888-442-4551. For information on the return of funds policies governing specific funding agencies contact your case manager.

When calculating Title IV funds, the official withdrawal date will be the last day of classroom attendance as indicated on the classroom sign-in sheet. The amount of assistance that the student has earned is determined on a pro rata basis. For example, if he completed 30% of the payment period, he earned 30% of the assistance he was originally scheduled to receive. Once the student has completed more than 60% of the payment period, he earns all the assistance that he was scheduled to receive for that period.

If the student did not receive all of the funds that he earned, the student may be due a post-withdrawal disbursement. If the post-withdrawal disbursement includes loan funds, the school must get the student’s permission before it can disburse them. The student may choose to decline some or all of the loan funds so that he doesn’t incur additional debt. The school may automatically use all or a portion of the student’s post-withdrawal disbursement of grant funds for tuition, fees, and room and board charges (as contracted with the school). The school needs the student’s permission to use the post-withdrawal grant disbursement for all other school charges. If the student does not give permission, the student will be offered the funds. However, it may be in the student’s best interest to allow the school to keep the funds to reduce the student’s debt at the school.

There are some Title IV funds that the student may have been scheduled to receive that cannot be disbursed once the student withdraws because of other eligibility requirements. For example, if the student is a first-time, first-year undergraduate student and has not completed the first 30 days of the program before withdrawing, the student will not receive any Direct Loan funds that he would have received had he remained enrolled past the 30th day. If the student (or school) receives excess Title IV program funds that must be returned, the school must return a portion of the excess equal to the lesser of:

• The student’s institutional charges multiplied by the unearned percentage of his funds, or
• The entire amount of excess funds.

The school must return this amount even if it didn’t keep this amount of the student’s Title IV program funds. If the school is not required to return all of the excess funds, the student must return the remaining amount.

Any loan funds that the student must return, the student will repay in accordance with the terms of the promissory note. That is, the student will make scheduled payments to the holder of the loan over a period of time. It is also the student’s responsibility to complete federal loan exit counseling online at studentloans.gov.
Any amount of unearned grant funds that the student must return is called an overpayment. The maximum amount of a grant overpayment that the student must repay is half of the grant funds received or were scheduled to receive. The student does not have to repay a grant overpayment if the original amount of the overpayment is $50 or less. The student must make arrangements with the school or the Department of Education to return the unearned grant funds.

The requirements for Title IV program funds when the student withdraws are separate from any refund policy that the Adult Career Center has. Therefore, the student may still owe funds to the school to cover unpaid institutional charges. The school may also charge the student for any Title IV program funds that the school was required to return. It is the student’s financial responsibility to pay any remaining balance to the ACC within 30 days of notification for the total program tuition based on the school’s refund policy. Please see the section titled “Withdrawal and Refund Policy” found earlier in this MCCTC Student Catalog for the Adult Career Center’s refund policy and procedures for officially withdrawing from the Adult Career Center.