Federal Department of Education (ED) regulations require that students who receive Federal Title IV Student Financial Aid and withdraw from all classes up through the 60% point of the semester may be required to repay all or a portion of financial assistance received. Students are responsible for funds returned by LSUS.
At Louisiana State University in Shreveport (LSUS) Title IV financial aid includes Federal Pell Grant, Federal Supplemental Educational Opportunity Grant (SEOG), TEACH Grant, Iraq & Afghanistan Service Grant, William D. Ford Direct Subsidized Student Loan, William D. Ford Direct Unsubsidized Student Loan, William D. Ford Direct Parent PLUS Loan for Undergraduate Students, and the Willian D. Ford Direct Graduate PLUS Loan.
Return to Title IV calculations (R2T4) are conducted for any Title IV recipient that started courses but did not successfully complete all courses. This could be an official withdrawal or unofficial withdrawal.
The LSUS refund policy is used to calculate the refund of institutional charges; however, the federal “Return of Title IV Funds” formula dictates the amount of Federal Title IV aid that must be returned to the federal government by the student and/or LSUS if the student resigns. These two policies are separate.
For determining the percentage of Title IV aid to be returned to the ED, the number of calendar days remaining in the semester is divided by the number of calendar days in the semester. Scheduled class breaks of five consecutive days are excluded. R2T4 worksheets used to determine the amount of Title IV Aid to return are available upon request from the Financial Aid Office.
Official Withdrawals
An official withdrawal occurs throughout the semester when a student drops/withdraws from all courses. The date of withdrawal is used in the R2T4 calculation to determine the federal aid sources and amount the student and/or LSUS is responsible for repaying.
Unofficial Withdrawals
An unofficial withdrawal occurs when a student ceases to attend classes and earns 0 credits during the semester, receiving any combination of grades of F, NC, W, or I. Instructors are required to supply the last date of attendance or academically related activity when the grade earned is an “F” or “NC”. The last date indicated by the instructor will be used as the withdrawal date in the R2T4 calculation to determine the federal aid sources and amount the student and/or LSUS is responsible for repaying.
Never Attended
If LSUS records show a student who received federal financial aid never attended a class for a semester, the student never established eligibility for the financial aid funds that may have been disbursed for the semester. In this case, LSUS will return all federal funds and the student must repay the entire amount of aid disbursed for that semester.
