Federal Title IV Refund Policy

When a student who receives Federal Student Aid funds withdraws from the CPU prior to completing 60% of a payment period (Fall and Spring Semesters), the student – after the return calculation – may be required to return a portion of the received Aid within 45 days of the student withdrawing.

A return is only required of those students who withdraw from the school/who cease to be enrolled. A student who reduced his/her course load is considered a reduction and not a withdrawal. A return calculation is not required for such students.

The required calculation determines a student’s earned and unearned Title IV aid based on the percentage of the enrollment period completed by the student. The percentage of the period that the student remained enrolled is derived by dividing the number of days the student attended by the number of days in the enrollment period.

For such a student there are no unearned funds. CPU will still complete a return calculation in order to determine whether the student is eligible for a post-withdrawal disbursement.

CPU must determine the student’s withdrawal date. The withdrawal date is defined as: The date the student began the withdrawal process or officially notified CPU of his/her intent to withdraw; or The last date of attendance at an academically-related activity by a student who does not notify CPU.

Based on the date of the withdrawal, the Financial Aid Office will determine the actual date of the student’s withdrawal and, using the Return of Title IV form provided by the Department of Education, they will calculate the amount, if any, the student must return. The student will then be notified by mail of the amount the Federal Student Financial Aid stated that they must return.

In some cases, both the school and the student may be required to return unused or unearned portions of Federal Aid to the Federal Title IV program.

Withdrawal, Refund, & Repayment

Withdrawing or dropping courses can impact your financial aid eligibility.

AID DISBURSED & THEN DROP A CLASS

If you drop a class on or before census date (the 20th day of instruction) and your enrollment status changes as a result, you may be required to repay part or all of the funds received. For example, if you receive a full-time Federal Pell Grant payment (100% of the awarded amount) and you drop to 9 units by the start of the fifth week of the semester, your enrollment status changes from full-time to three-quarter time and you may have to repay 25% of the paid amount.

Your enrollment status is “frozen” on census date and you are expected to earn credit for all classes in which you were enrolled. Therefore, if you drop a class after that date, you may jeopardize your future financial aid for failure to meet satisfactory academic progress requirements. However, your enrollment status is not adjusted and you are not required to repay funds received.

AID DISBURSED PART-TIME & LATER INCREASED ENROLLED UNITS

It is possible to receive several disbursements at the beginning of the semester if your enrollment status changes. For example, if you are enrolled in 6 units when initial payment is made, you may receive only 50% of your Federal Pell Grant award.

COMPLETE WITHDRAWAL

If you completely withdrawal from the university or cease attending classes on or before the 60% point in the semester and you received financial aid for the semester, we will determine how much of the financial aid you “earned” based on the number of days you attended classes. You may be required to return part/all of the unearned portion.

Student Financial Services will perform a calculation to determine if part of your fees must be refunded. If a refund is made, it will first be applied toward your “unearned” financial aid.

Overpayments and Over-awards

There are times when a student’s award package exceeds the student’s need. There may be circumstances that change a student’s award package after the aid has been awarded that result in an overpayment.

For example, a student may receive a scholarship or grant from an outside source or organization, or the student may want to extend his or her work-study employment. In case of overpayments or over-awards the CPU financial aid office will need to make adjustments to the other Federal Student Financial Aid in the package.

Pell Grants are never adjusted to take into account other forms of aid. Therefore, the adjustments will be made to the Stafford Loans and/or Campus-Based programs.

Student can send in the overpayment or over-award to the CPU and the payment will be forwarded to the U.S. Department of Education. If a student is unable to pay their overpayment in full, they can set up a repayment plan with the U.S. Department of Education. Before doing this, they must contact the CPU Financial Aid Office. They will need to make sure we have referred their situation to the U.S. Department of Education before any repayment plan can be set up.

If the student whose overpayment case has been accepted by the Department of Education wishes to establish a repayment schedule, the student should contact Borrower Services by calling 1-800-621-3115 or write to:

For examples of the Return of Title IV Funds calculations or questions regarding the overpayment policy, please contact the Financial Aid Office.

Transcript Release Policy for Title IV Students

CPU provides an official transcript to all students who have met their financial obligations (Exception for Title IV students who will be given an official transcript regardless of meeting of their financial obligations)

Professional Judgement Policy & Procedures

The Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) does not provide families with a place to explain special circumstances affecting their ability to pay for the student’s education. To remedy this, Congress, through The Higher Education Act (HEA) of 1992, delegated to school’s financial aid administrators to make professional judgment decisions when there are special or unusual family or student circumstances that may call for adjustments in determining a student’s eligibility for financial aid.

Circumstances requiring professional judgment will be analyzed on a case-by-case basis and will be documented. Professional judgment refers to the authority of a school’s financial aid administrator to adjust the data elements on the FAFSA.

The Director for Financial Aid may exercise professional judgment and change elements in the federal need analysis to account for circumstances that he/she feels have not been adequately considered in the original FAFSA. The Director for Financial Aid has the final authority in making professional judgment decisions. There is no appeal.

By law, neither the school’s president nor the U.S. Department of Education can override the financial aid administrator’s decision. (Higher Education Act of 1965, Sections 479A and 480(d) (7). The FAFSA Simplification ACT distinguishes between different categories of professional judgement by amending section 479A of the HEA.

Special Circumstances

Unusual Circumstances

A student may have both a special circumstance and an unusual circumstance. Financial aid administrators (FAAs) may make adjustments that are appropriate to each student’s situation with appropriate documentation.

Circumstances that may warrant a professional judgment decision include, but are not limited to the following:

• Parent’s death or divorce for dependent students; death of or divorce from spouse of independent students.
• Significant loss of income/loss of employment
• Loss of untaxed income/benefits (e.g. disability, child support, or other benefits)
• Excessive medical expenses (not covered by insurance)
• One-time taxable income used for life changing event (e.g. IRA, pension distribution)
• Other special circumstances not listed

Circumstances that are NOT considered extenuating include, but are not limited to:

• Standard living expenses (e.g. utilities, credit card payments, children’s allowances, etc.)
• Mortgage payments
• Car payments
• Credit card or other personal debts
• Vacation expenses
• All other discretionary expenses

Requesting a Professional Judgment Review:

Student should submit the signed Professional Judgement form, along with all supporting documents establishing the special circumstances for which an adjustment is sought, to Financial Aid. After receiving a professional judgment request, the Financial Aid Office will first examine the request to determine whether the requested adjustment, if granted, will impact a student’s financial aid package before going through the formal professional judgment decision process.