Refund Policy, Requirements for Withdrawal and Return of Title IV Financial Aid

REFUND POLICY – NOTICE OF CANCELLATION

Pursuant to Chapter 1602 of the Texas Occupations Code, a fair and equitable settlement will apply for applicants who cancel enrollment or students who withdraw from enrollment.

Applicants not accepted by the school shall be refunded all monies paid to the school. If the student (or in the case of a student under the legal age, his/her parent or guardian) cancels the enrollment in writing within three (3) business days of signing the enrollment agreement, all monies collected by the school will be refunded.

The “formal cancellation date” is determined by the postmark on written notification, the date notification is delivered to the school in person, the date the school terminates the student, 10 class days after the last day of attendance, or the expiration date of an approved Leave of Absence.

If a student cancels the enrollment more than three (3) business days after signing the contract but prior to starting classes, a refund of all monies paid to the school less the registration fee in the amount of $100 will be made. For students who enroll and begin classes but withdraw prior to program completion (after three business days of signing the contract), the following schedule of tuition earned by the school applies:
PERCENT OF SCHEDULED TIME TOTAL TUITION EARNED
ENROLLED TO TOTAL COURSE BY SCHOOL

The first week or 0.01% to 10% (whichever is less)  10%
10.01% to 20%                                                                 20%
20.01% to 25%                                                                 25%
25.01% to 49.9%                                                              50%
50% and over                                                                  100%

Any monies due to the applicant or student shall be refunded within 30 days after the date the student becomes eligible for the refund.

In the case of disabling illness or injury, death in the student’s immediate family, or other documented mitigating circumstances, a reasonable and fair refund settlement will be made.

If permanently closed or no longer offering instruction after a student has enrolled, the school will provide a pro-rata refund of tuition to the student.

If the program is canceled subsequent to a student’s enrollment, the school will provide either a full refund of all monies paid or completion of the program at a later time. The school does not participate in any teach-out plans with other institutions.

This refund policy applies to tuition and fees charged in the enrollment agreement. Other miscellaneous charges the student may have incurred at STC Academy (eg: nonreturnable kit materials, books, products, unreturned school property, etc.) will be calculated separately at the time of withdrawal.

If a Title IV financial aid recipient withdraws prior to the course completion, a calculation for return of Title IV funds will be completed and any applicable returns by the school shall be paid, as applicable, first to unsubsidized Federal Stafford Student Loan Program; second to subsidized Federal Stafford Student Loan Program; third to Federal Pell Grant Program; fourth to other Federal, State, private, or institutional student financial assistance programs; and last to the student. After all applicable returns to Title IV aid have been made, this refund policy will apply to determine the amount earned by the school and owed by the student. If the student has received personal payments of Title IV aid, s/he may be required to refund the aid to the applicable program.

WITHDRAWAL REQUIREMENTS

OFFICIAL WITHDRAWAL FROM THE ACADEMY

In the event that circumstances beyond the student’s control make it necessary for withdrawal, the student must consult with the School’s Director and/or Admissions Director and complete a Withdrawal Form, using the last date of attendance as the drop date.

UNOFFICIAL WITHDRAWAL FROM THE ACADEMY

In the event that STC Academy unofficially withdraws a student from STC Academy, the Director of STC Academy and/or Director of Admissions must complete the “Withdrawal Form” using the last date of attendance as the drop date. Upon completion of the withdrawal requirements, STC Academy will submit a Final Transcript of Hours to the state board. Upon payment of a $10.00 transcript fee, a certified Final Transcript of Hours will be provided to the withdrawn student. If withdrawal requirements are not met, no transcript will be released. Withdrawal fees may be appealed according to STC Academy’s appeal policy; however, the final decision regarding the student’s withdrawal status is at the discretion of STC academy’s administration.

RE-ENTRY POLICY

Former students who wish to re-enter must request approval in writing or in person. The request will be reviewed and a decision made within 30 days of the request. Students who are granted re-entry within thirty (30) days of the original official withdrawal date will be charged for hours remaining. The student will be responsible for any balance owed under the prior enrollment. For students who re-enter more than thirty (30) days after the original withdrawal date, tuition rates current at the time of re-entry will apply to the remaining hours needed. Arrangement for satisfactory payment of any applicable balance owed under the previous enrollment(s) must be made prior to re-entry. Students who withdraw from enrollment two times will not be considered for re-entry. Re-entry students must provide their full and complete kits as required for the course of study or purchase new ones.

RETURN TO TITLE IV POLICY

This policy applies to all recipients of Federal Title IV Financial Aid Funds. Students who are no longer attending the school may still owe funds to the school to cover unpaid tuition. Additionally, the school may attempt to collect any funds from a student that the school was required to return as a result of this policy. The school is required to calculate how much federal aid may be retained or disbursed for a student who withdraws prior to the end of a payment period. The calculated amount is referred to as the “Return of Title IV Funds” (R2T4). The calculation of Title IV funds earned by the student has no relationship to the student’s tuition and fees that may be owed to the school. All funds subject to this policy are determined according to the following definitions and procedures, as prescribed by regulation. The school has 45 days from the date the school determines the student withdrew to return all unearned funds for which it is responsible. The school will notify the student in writing of the amount of funds that must be returned.

WITHDRAWAL BEFORE 60%

The school must perform an R2T4 to determine the amount of earned aid up through the 60% point in each payment period and use the Department of Education’s prorate schedule to determine the amount of R2T4 funds the student has earned at the time of withdrawal.

WITHDRAWAL AFTER 60%

For a student who withdraws after the 60% point-in-time, s/he is considered to have earned 100%. There are no unearned funds. However, the school will still calculate eligibility for a post-withdrawal disbursement.

CALCULATING R2T4

Title IV funds are earned in a prorated manner on a per diem clock hours basis up to the 60% point in the payment period. Title IV aid is viewed as 100% earned after that point in time. The school is required to determine the earned and unearned Title IV aid as of the date the student ceased attendance based on the amount of time the student was scheduled to be in attendance.

FORMULA CALCULATION

The following is a step-by-step process that is followed in all R2T4 calculations:

Step 1: Determine the percentage of aid earned by calculating the percentage of the scheduled hours that the student completed. Example: 18 (completed days) = 15.3% (% of completed calendar days within the payment period) of 118 (scheduled days)

Step 2: Determine the amount of earned aid by applying the percentage to the total Title IV aid that was or could have been disbursed. Example: 15.3 % X $2,805.00 = $429.17 (Amount of aid earned by student)

Step 3: Determine the amount of unearned aid by subtracting earned aid from disbursed aid or determine the amount of a post-withdrawal disbursement by subtracting disbursed aid from earned aid.

Step 4: If unearned funds must be returned, determine the school's and the student’s shares; or if a post-withdrawal disbursement is due, determine the sources from which it will be funded.

Step 5:  f unearned funds must be returned, allocate unearned aid to programs from which student was funded; or if a post-withdrawal disbursement is due, send student applicable notification.

Step 6: Return the institution’s share and any funds repaid by the student or refer the student to ED; or make the post-withdrawal disbursement. If this amount is greater than the total Title IV aid disbursed for the payment period, a Post-Withdrawal Disbursement will be calculated; if the amount is less than the amount of Title IV aid disbursed, the difference will be returned to the Department of Education. Returns are allocated in the following order: Unsubsidized Federal Stafford Loan (other than PLUS loans) Subsidized Federal Stafford Loan Federal Parent (PLUS) Loan Federal Pell Grant.

POST WITHDRAWAL DISBURSEMENT

If a student earned more aid than was disbursed to him/her, the institution may owe the student a post-withdrawal disbursement which must be paid as soon as possible but no later than 90 days from the date the school determined the student withdrew for loans and no later than 45 days from the date the school determined the student withdrew for grants. The school is required to notify the student in writing within 30 days of the date it determined that the student withdrew that s/he is eligible for a post-withdrawal disbursement of Title IV loan funds. However, if the student (or parent in the case of a PLUS loan) is eligible to receive a post-withdrawal disbursement of loan funds, the student or parent borrower must first confirm in writing whether he/she accepts/declines all or some of the loan funds offered as a post-withdrawal disbursement. A post-withdrawal disbursement of Federal grant funds does not require student acceptance or approval and the grant funds may be applied directly to the student’s account in order to satisfy tuition and fees, or to the student. The school will seek the student’s authorization to use a post-withdrawal disbursement for all other educational related charges in addition to tuition and fees. The school is required to return the amount of Title IV funds for which it is responsible no later than 45 days after the Date of the Determination of the date of the student’s withdrawal.

OVERPAYMENTS

Any amount of unearned grant funds that a student must return directly is called an overpayment. The amount of a grant overpayment that a student must repay is half of the grant funds received or were scheduled to receive. The student must make arrangements with the school and/or the Department of Education to return the unearned grant funds. Failure to do so will result in no additional Title IV aid.

OFFICIAL WITHDRAWALS

To officially withdrawal from the school, the student must initiate the withdrawal process by contacting the School Director. The school’s Cancellation & Refund Policy and RT24 will apply to withdrawn students in accordance with the date provided on the written withdrawal notice and will be effective the date the notice is received.

UNOFFICIAL WITHDRAWAL

Termination of a student is defined as no longer attending, whether by the student’s voluntary withdrawal or dismissal by the school as a disciplinary action; the last date of attendance will be used for the Cancellation & Refund Policy and RT24 calculations. Students who have been absent for 10 consecutive days will automatically be terminated.

LEAVE OF ABSENCE

If enrollment is temporarily interrupted for a Leave of Absence (LOA), the student will return to school at the same progress status as prior to the LOA. Hours elapsed during a LOA will extend the student’s contract period by the same number of days taken in the LOA and will not be included in the student’s cumulative attendance percentage calculation. Students who fail to return from an LOA will have an Unofficial Withdrawal on the date they were scheduled to return from the LOA which will be used for the Cancellation & Refund Policy and RT24 calculations.

THE SCHOOLS RESPONSIBILITIES IN REGARDS TO R2T4:

Providing students with the information given in this policy; identifying students who are affected by this policy and completing the Return of Title IV Funds calculation for those students, and returning any Title IV funds that are due to the Title IV programs.
The student’s responsibilities in regard to the return of Title IV funds include:

Returning to the Title IV programs any funds that were disbursed to the student and which the student was determined to be ineligible for via the Return of Title IV Funds calculation.

Any notification of withdrawal should be in writing and addressed to the appropriate institutional official.

A student may rescind his or her official notification of intent to withdraw. Submission of intent to rescind a withdrawal notice must be filed in writing.

Either of these notifications, to withdraw or rescission of intent to withdraw, must be made to the official records/registration personnel in the school of attendance at Regent and the Regent University Registrar’s Office.

For questions about the Title IV program funds, 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 about Student Aid is also available on the Web at www.studentaid.ed.gov

Policy and completing the Return of Title IV Funds calculation for those students and returning any Title IV funds that are due to the Title IV programs.

The student’s responsibilities in regard to the return of Title IV funds include:

Returning to the Title IV programs any funds that were disbursed to the student and which the student was determined to be ineligible for via the Return of Title IV Funds calculation.

Any notification of withdrawal should be in writing and addressed to the appropriate institutional official. A student may rescind his or her official notification of intent to withdraw. Submission of intent to rescind a withdrawal notice must be filed in writing.

Either of these notifications, to withdraw or rescission of intent to withdraw, must be made to the official records/registration personnel in the school of attendance at Regent and the Regent University Registrar’s Office.

For questions about the Title IV program funds, 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.