Financial Aid

Repayment of Federal Financial Aid

Return to Title IV

Students receiving federal financial aid who withdraw from or stop attending all courses may be required to return all or a portion of financial aid received. If you officially drop all of your classes during the first week of the term, it will be as though you never registered. If you have charged any books, it will be your responsibility to pay those charges. 

Financial Aid begins to disburse funds to students the second week of each term. If you are not registered, you will not be paid any financial aid. 

Federal regulations [HEA Section 484B, 485(a)(1)(F), 34 CFR 668.22], referred to as the Return of Title IV Funds policy, require Linn-Benton Community College to calculate a refund and repayment of federal aid received by students who withdraw prior to the 60% point of a term for which they have received federal aid. The Title IV (federal) programs under this policy are: Federal Pell Grant, Federal Supplemental Educational Opportunity Grants (FSEOG), and Federal Direct Loans (Subsidized, Unsubsidized and PLUS). According to the Return of Title IV (R2T4) Funds policy, the student is allowed to retain only the amount of Title IV financial aid that was earned. If a student withdraws or stops participating in classes, a portion of the aid received is considered to be unearned and must be returned to the Title IV programs from which it was received. If the R2T4 calculation results in unearned aid that must be returned, both the school and the student are responsible for returning funds.

Leave of Absence

LBCC does not have a leave of absence policy.

Earned vs Unearned F Grades

If you earn 0 credits at the end of a term, this is considered an unofficial withdrawal. If you receive an F grade, the financial aid office reviews the last date of attendance to determine if you attended through the final two weeks of the term. If so, you are considered to have “earned” the F grade, and therefore, no R2T4 is completed. If the student does not attend the last two weeks of the term, this is an “unearned” F and an R2T4 calculation is performed.

R2T4 Process

When you withdraw during the payment period (term of enrollment), the amount of Title IV program assistance that you have earned up to that point is determined by a specific formula. If you received (or the school or your parent received on your behalf) less assistance than you earned, you may be able to receive those additional funds. If you received more assistance than you earned, the excess funds must be returned. This also applies if you receive incomplete grades (F, I, NP) in all attempted classes in the term.

LBCC processes R2T4 calculations as soon as possible, but no later than 45 days after determining the student has withdrawn.

Determination of the Withdrawal Date

For Title IV purposes, the last date of academic attendance is one of the following: 

• The date the student initiates the institution’s withdrawal process; or
• The date the student otherwise gives officials notice of intent to withdraw (e.g., letter, withdrawal form, in-person)
• The midpoint of the period for a student who leaves without notifying the institution; or
• The student’s last date of attendance at a documented academically-related activity (e.g. documented attendance in a class, lab, or submission of an assignment in an online course).
  
  

Date of Determination

For official withdrawals, the date of determination is the date the student dropped all their classes.

For unofficial withdrawals, the date of determination is the last date of the term.

Determination of the Amount of Aid the College Must Return

Unearned Title IV aid shall be returned to the following programs in the following order: 

1. Direct Unsubsidized Loan
2. Direct Subsidized Loan
3. Direct Parent PLUS Loan
4. Federal Pell Grant
5. Federal SEOG
6. Iraq and Afghanistan Service Grant

A student who has not participated or attended any classes during the term will be required to repay 100% of all financial aid funds disbursed to them. Students receiving non-completion grades may be required to repay funds if they cannot establish that they have attended class during the term. Students must provide documentation of class attendance within a given time frame. Acceptable forms of documentation of class attendance include exams, records of attendance, or computer assisted instruction.

Determination of the Amount of Aid the Student Earned

The amount of assistance that you have earned is determined on a prorated basis. For example, if you completed 30% of the payment period/term, you earned 30% of the assistance you were originally scheduled to receive. Once you have completed more than 60% of the payment period or period of enrollment, you earn all of the assistance that you were scheduled to receive for that period. 

Below are the 2024-25 dates in which you will have reached more than 60% completion for that term:

If you did not receive all of the funds that you earned, you may be due a post-withdrawal disbursement. If your post-withdrawal disbursement includes loan funds, your school must obtain your permission before disbursing them. You may choose to decline some or all of the loan funds so that you do not incur additional debt. LBCC may automatically use all or a portion of your post-withdrawal disbursement of grant funds for tuition, fees, and other charges on your student account. Post-withdrawal funds are disbursed using our normal disbursement methods. Additionally, if you are due a post-withdrawal disbursement of grant aid, disbursement will occur 45 days from the date of determination. If you are due loan funds, notification will be sent to you within 30 days, allowing the student at least 14 days to respond to LBCC. If you accept the post-withdrawal of loan funds, they will be disbursed no later than 45 days after the date of determination.

If the R2T4 calculation results in a post-withdrawal disbursement that creates a credit balance on your account, the business office will send all or a portion of that refund to you as soon as possible, but no later than 14 days after the calculation of the R2T4. 

There may be some Title IV funds that you were scheduled to receive that cannot be disbursed to you once you withdraw because of other eligibility requirements. For example, if you are a first-time, first-year undergraduate student and you have not completed the first 30 days of your program before you withdraw, you will not receive any of the Direct Loan funds that you would have received had you remained enrolled past the 30th day. 

If you receive (or the school or your parent receives on your behalf) excess Title IV program funds that must be returned, LBCC must return a portion of the excess equal to the lesser of: 

1. Your institutional charges multiplied by the unearned percentage of your funds, or
2. The entire amount of excess funds. 

The school must return this amount even if it didn’t keep this amount of your Title IV program funds. 

Bills will be sent to the student’s LBCC-assigned Gmail account (Roadrunner Mail). LBCC does not mail bills unless you opt out at a registration location. 

Students are responsible for any portion of their institutional charges that are left outstanding after funds are returned to the Title IV account. Failure to pay in full within 45 days will result in LBCC reporting the student’s account to the National Student Loan Database (NSLDS). This action will result in you not being able to receive Federal Student Aid from any Title IV Institution in the United States until you settle your outstanding balance with LBCC.

LBCC Comprehensive Statement of Nondiscrimination

For accommodations requests, contact Accessibility Resources at 541-917-4789 or accessibility@linnbenton.edu at least three business days in advance. LBCC does not discriminate based on any protected status in its programs or activities. For more information, see LBCC's nondiscrimination policy.