US federal aid refunds
If you receive financial aid, withdraw from Monash and receive a fee refund, you may owe money to the US Federal Aid program. The Student Fees Refund Procedure (pdf) is independent of the regulations for return of your Title IV aid to US Department of Education.
Withdrawal date
We use the ‘withdrawal date’ when we calculate the earned and unearned amount of your Direct Loan funds. Monash is not an attendance–taking institution, so we’ll determine the withdrawal date as follows:
- If you officially discontinue from your course, the withdrawal date is the discontinuation date recorded on the University's Student Management System.
- If you don't discontinue officially or take an unapproved leave of absence, the University will determine the withdrawal date based on the relevant census dates.
- If a notice was not provided due to circumstances beyond your control, the withdrawal date will be the date on which that circumstance occurred.
Return of Title IV (R2T4)
The calculation of the percentage of aid earned is based on your enrolment:
Number of days enrolled ÷ number of days in the teaching period x 100
If you remain enrolled beyond 60% of the academic period in calendar days, you earn 100% of the aid you received. If you withdraw from the University at the 60% mark or less for aid earned, the unearned portion must be returned to the US Department of Education. Both you and the University share the responsibility to return unearned aid.
The unearned amount must be returned in accordance with the initial distribution of Direct Loan funds in the following order:
- Direct unsubsidised
- Direct subsidised
- Direct PLUS
Unearned Direct Loan amounts must be returned no later than 45 days of the date of your withdrawal.
If unearned aid results in a balance due, we’ll email a revised tuition and fee invoice to you. It’s your responsibility to repay those funds.
Post-Withdrawal Disbursements (PWD)
If you haven’t received all the Direct Loan funds that you’ve earned, you may receive a post-withdrawal disbursement of the remaining earned funds. The Financial Aid Administrator will notify you (and any parent borrower) if you’re eligible for a PWD. You may decline the PWD. If you owe outstanding tuition fees or debts at the time of a PWD, these amounts will be deducted from any disbursement.
Where you had a credit balance on your account before withdrawal, or as a consequence of withdrawal, any refund will be placed on hold until after a Return to Title IV (R2T4) calculation is finalised. Any credit balance that is refundable to you will be processed within 14 days.
Notification of return of funds requirements
When you withdraw or are granted a leave of absence from your course, the Financial Aid Administrator will notify you of any return of unearned Direct Loan funds through your Monash email and personal email accounts listed on WES. This notice will include information about the amount of unearned Direct Loan funds and whether the University will return funds on your behalf.
If your leave of absence (e.g. intermission or study leave) exceeds 180 days within a 12-month period, you'll be considered as 'withdrawn from school' for loan repayment purposes. In this instance, you may wish to check your loan repayment and grace period with your loan servicer. For more information, visit the Federal Student Aid (FSA) website or contact the FSA Information Centre (FSAIC).
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