Refund & Withdrawal Policies Financial Aid Basics

University of Arkansas Grantham’s primary goal is for you to successfully complete your education at our institution and move forward in advancing your career. However, we realize there are unique situations that can cause a student to withdraw.

Institutional Refund Policy

(This policy is separate and distinct from any federal policy.)

A student may withdraw from University of Arkansas Grantham for any reason and is responsible for completing the University’s formal withdrawal procedures as outlined in the Withdrawal Policy. In addition, if a student registered via an online military portal, it is the student’s responsibility to withdraw via that same online military portal. A withdrawal is considered to have occurred on the date the student officially notifies the University of the desire to withdraw or on the date the University determines the student ceased attendance or failed to meet published academic policies and is administratively withdrawn, whichever comes first. This is the date of determination used to compute the refund according to institutional policy

If a student is withdrawn from the University for any reason or if a student drops a course(s) within the period allowed in any given eight-week term, the amount already paid will be compared to the tuition of the completed portion of that eight-week term. Any amount the student has paid in excess of the required amount will be refunded; if the student has paid less than the required amount, the student will be responsible for paying the difference.

Time of Withdrawal Refund
Within 7 days of course start date 100%
8-14 days after course start date 85%
15-21 days after course start date 60%
22-28 days after course start date 40%
29-35 days after course start date* 20%
36 days or more after course start date 0%

*60% course completion occurs on day 34

Grantham is subject to and must abide by the refund policies of any branch, agency or department of the federal government with which it is in any way associated or affiliated. In the event of a conflict between Grantham’s Institutional Refund Policy and the refund policy of an affiliated federal branch, agency or department, the federal refund policy may supersede that of University of Arkansas Grantham (see Section 3.11 for Return of Title IV Funds information).

Refund policy example:
For example, if a student withdraws from University of Arkansas Grantham on Day 11 of a term, 85 percent of the tuition will be refunded. In this situation, the following calculation will apply::

$885 (tuition for one three-credit hour course)
-$752.25 (the refund amount, which equates to 85% of the course tuition)
_______________________________________________________________________________
$132.75 (the remaining 15% of the course tuition, which is the responsibility of the student)

This is an example only. Student finances are individualized and vary from student to student.

Cancellation Policy

You have the right to cancel your enrollment at any time up to the seventh calendar day after the term start date. If you cancel at any time up to the seventh calendar day after the term start date, University of Arkansas Grantham will refund all monies paid to the institution. Notification of cancellation may be conveyed to University of Arkansas Grantham in any manner.

Institutional Refund Procedure

University Withdrawals
When a student is withdrawn from the University for any reason, a refund calculation will be performed and any monies due back to a third party or the student will be refunded within 30 days of the date of determination (DOD). Any unpaid balance of tuition and fees the University is eligible to retain after the calculation is performed must be paid by the student to the institution.

Course Drops
When a student drops or is dropped from a course(s), the institutional refund policy calculation will be performed for the charges applied to the course(s). Any monies due back to a third party or the student will be refunded within 30 days of the date of determination (DOD). Any unpaid balance of tuition and fees the University is eligible to retain after the calculation is performed must be paid by the student to the institution.

Credit Balances
Credit balances eligible for refund will be returned within 30 days from the date the credit balance occurred, subject to any federal, state or accrediting agency statutes, rules, regulations and/or standards.

Withdrawal Policy

Withdrawals from the University or any course may occur for the following reasons:

  • Voluntary withdrawal requested by the student for any reason
  • Administrative withdrawal due to violation of the Participation and Substantive Interaction Policy
  • Administrative withdrawal due to violation of Satisfactory Academic Progress Policy
  • Administrative withdrawal due to violation of the Code of Conduct policy
  • Military Deployment

Should a student consider withdrawing from the University or any course, it is important to note:

  • All voluntary and administrative withdrawals are subject to the Institutional Refund Policy.
  • A student who voluntarily withdraws from courses or the University in the first seven (7) days of the term will be considered a cancel and will receive a full refund.
  • A student may voluntarily withdraw from an individual course(s) beginning the first day of Week 2 through the last day of Week 5 and receive a final grade of “W” for the course(s). Any refund to the student is subject to the terms of the Institutional Refund Policy.
  • A student may not withdraw from a course after an (I) incomplete has been granted. If a University withdrawal is requested while a course is in (I) incomplete status, the I grade will convert to an F.
  • If a student needs to withdraw for reasons of military deployment, he/she should follow the Military Deployment Policy in the University Catalog that ensures a deployed student will incur no financial or academic penalty.

For more information about the Institutional Refund and Withdrawal Policies, see the University Catalog.

Return of Title IV Calculations

When a student withdraws from the University or any course, the law specifies how the school must determine the amount of Title IV program assistance that was earned.

The Title IV programs administered by University of Arkansas Grantham that are covered by this law are:

  • Federal Pell Grants
  • Iraq & Afghanistan Service Grants
  • Direct Stafford Loans
  • Direct PLUS Loans

If the student received (or the parent or University received on the student’s behalf) less assistance than the amount earned, the student may be able to receive those additional earned funds. If the student (parent or University) received more assistance than earned, the excess funds must be repaid by the student (parent or University).

Pro-rata

The institution will use a Department of Education approved refund calculation that determines the percentage of Title IV funds earned by the student. If the student did not receive all of the funds earned, the student might be due a post-withdrawal disbursement. If the post-withdrawal disbursement includes loan funds, the University must obtain the student’s permission before it can disburse funds.

Funds Unable to Be Disbursed

There are some Title IV funds that a student might 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 his/her program before he/she withdrew, then the student will not receive any Direct Loan funds that he/she was eligible to receive had he/she remained enrolled past the 30th day.

If a student (or the parent or University on the student’s behalf) receives excess Title IV program funds that must be returned, the University must return a portion of the excess equal to the lesser of:

  • Student’s institutional charges multiplied by the unearned percentage of the student’s funds, or
  • Entire amount of excess funds
  • The University must return this amount even if it did not keep that amount of the student’s Title IV program funds.

If the University is not required to return all of the excess funds, the student must return the remaining amount. Any loan funds that the student (or the parent for a Direct PLUS Loan) must return must be repaid in accordance with the terms of the Master Promissory Note. That is, the student may make scheduled payments to the holder of the loan over a period of time.

Any amount of unearned federal grant funds that a student must return is called an overpayment. The maximum amount of a Grant overpayment that a student must repay is half of the Grant funds received or scheduled to receive. The student does not have to repay a grant overpayment if the original amount of the overpayment is $50.00 or less. The student must make arrangements with the University to return the unearned grant funds.

The requirements for return of Title IV program funds when a student withdraws are separate and different than the University of Arkansas Grantham Institutional Refund Policy (see Catalog Section 1.11). Therefore, the student may still owe funds to the University to cover unpaid institutional charges. University of Arkansas Grantham may also charge the student for any Title IV program funds that the University was required to return on the student’s behalf.

HEROES Act

The Higher Education Relief Opportunities for Students Act of 2003 sets forth waivers applicable to those serving on active duty during wartime (i.e., those who are “assigned to a duty station at a location other than the location at which the individual is normally assigned”; those called up to active duty from the reserves, National Guard, or retirement; and those affected by declared natural disasters). Students affected by these circumstances who withdraw during a semester are not required to repay Federal Student Aid grants.