Before dropping a class, please contact the Financial Aid office because withdrawing from courses can affect your financial aid for the current term and future terms!
When a recipient of Federal Title IV aid (consisting of federal grants and/or loans) meets any of the following conditions:
- Completely and officially withdraws from their courses during the semester;
- Fails to earn a passing grade in all of their courses during the semester; and/or
- Stops attending before completing the semester;
Kaua‘i CC must perform a calculation to determine the amount of Title IV aid that the student earned, based on the student's reported Last Date of Attendance (LDA). A Return to Title IV is calculated based on what was "earned", and any "unearned" aid is required to be paid back by the student. A student who is receiving Title IV aid and is considering not completing the semester should contact the Financial Aid Office to discuss the effects of not completing their classes.
If it is found that the student never established attendance, all financial aid will be cancelled and the student will be responsible for repaying any outstanding balances.
Withdrawal Process:
To officially withdraw from Kaua‘i CC, students must contact the Admissions and Records Office, or withdraw through their University of Hawai'i portal. Students are encouraged to contact the Financial Aid Office prior to withdrawing from any classes to discuss the effects it may have. Students who fail to earn a passing grade in all of their program applicable courses during the semester, and/or stop attending prior to completing the semester, are considered to be unofficially withdrawn.
Timeframe for the Return of Title IV Funds:
Kaua'i CC Financial Aid Office is required to perform this calculation and notify the student within 30 days of the date the school determines that a student has completely withdrawn. Kaua‘i CC will return any funds owed by the student to the Department of Education within 45 days from the date of determination.
Calculation of the amount of Title IV aid earned by the student:
The amount of Title IV aid that is earned by the student is equal to the Title IV aid awarded for the semester multiplied by the percentage of the semester that the student completed as of the reported withdrawal date.
Title IV semester award x % of semester completed = Title IV aid earned
- Completely and officially withdraws from their program applicable courses during the semester.
- For unofficial withdrawals, either the LDA or the midpoint of the semester will be used to determine the "% of the semester completed"
- If the reported LDA or WD occurs after the completion of 60% of the semester, the student is entitled to all Title IV aid awarded for that semester.
Returning Unearned Title IV aid:
If the calculated amount of Title IV aid that the student earned is less than the amount that was disbursed, then the difference must be returned to the Title IV program.
Title IV aid disbursed - Title IV aid earned = Unearned Title IV aid to be returned
- Kaua'i CC will return all unearned Federal Financial Aid on the student's behalf. Students will be billed for any amounts returned.
Funds not earned are returned to the appropriate federal program in the following order:
- Unsubsidized Direct Stafford loans
- Subsidized Direct Stafford loans
- Federal Parent (PLUS) loans
- Federal Pell Grants
- Iraq-Afghanistan Service Grants
- Federal Supplemental Opportunity grants
- Federal TEACH Grants
Providing students with earned, but not yet disbursed, title IV aid:
If the total amount of Title IV aid that the student earned is more than the disbursed amount, then the student may be eligible for a post-withdrawal disbursement equal to the difference.