Students attending Ithaca College who are receiving federal Title IV financial aid (e.g., federal Stafford, PLUS, or Perkins loans; federal ACG.Pell, FSEOG, or SMART funds) are required to return the portion of unearned aid if they withdraw, do not register, or otherwise fail to complete the period of enrollment for which the Title IV aid was provided. The return of funds does not apply to any student whose date of withdrawal is beyond the 60 percent enrollment period for which the student has been charged. The last date of attendance is determined by the date the student began the College's withdrawal process, the student's last date of recorded attendance, or the midpoint of the semester for a student who leaves without notifying the College.
To determine the percentage of aid earned, divide the number of calendar days completed by the total calendar days in the enrollment period (excluding scheduled breaks of five days or more AND days that the student is on approved leave of absence). Federal financial aid is returned to the program from which it was disbursed based on the percentage of unearned aid. To determine the percentage of unearned aid, subtract the percentage of aid earned from 100. The percentage of unearned aid is then multiplied by the amount of aid disbursed toward allowable institutional charges (e.g., tuition, room, and board).
A refund schedule of tuition and room and board charges based on a 15-week semester is provided below.
| 1st week | 100% |
| 2nd week | 85% |
| 3rd week | 70% |
| 4th week | 60% |
| 5th week | 50% |
| 6th week | 40% |
| 7th week | 30% |
| 8th week | 15% |
| 9th week | 0% |
Please note that the above refund policy also applies to students who are not federal aid recipients. It also applies to the return of institutional aid. In the case of any student for whom it is determined that a return must be made to programs based on prorated charges, those funds will be returned in the following order: unsubsidized federal Stafford loan, subsidized federal Stafford loan, federal Perkins loan, federal PLUS, federal Pell grant, ACG funds, SMART grants, FSEOG funds, and other Title IV aid programs. Finally, if no institutional, state, or private financial aid refund is required, a refund will be made to the student.
When institutional aid is required to be returned, it will be done in the following order: W. G. Egbert Founder's Grant, Ithaca Access Grant, merit-based scholarships, endowed/restricted scholarships, and other institutional aid programs.
Students who withdraw from an affiliated study abroad program must be attentive to refund deadlines, both those of the affiliate and those of Ithaca College, as there may be serious financial implications involved in withdrawing from a program near or after the start date of that program.
Students are responsible for informing both the affiliate organization and the Office of International Programs should they withdraw from a planned study abroad program.
Individuals who attend programs recognized by the College as affiliated study abroad programs are subject to the following refund policy:
A student who withdraws after the start of the program will be subject to the Ithaca College refund policies outlined above.
A student who withdraws from the program prior to the actual start date of the program will be refunded based upon the policies assessed by the affiliate organization. The student will responsible for paying any remaining fees, charges, or withdrawal penalties assessed by the affiliate organization. No financial aid is available to cover these charges.
More detailed information, including examples of refund and repayment calculations, is available in the admission, bursar, and financial aid offices.
Any federal aid recipient who is taking a leave of absence or withdrawing within the ninth week should be aware that a return of federal aid may be required even though full tuition and room and board charges will be incurred.
Students who take a leave of absence, withdraw, or are on a continuation leave and are also Title IV aid recipients should be aware of the following:
The grace period for federal loans (Perkins, PLUS, Stafford) begins from the student's last date of attendance as determined by the Office of Student Affairs and Campus Life. A student who is on an approved leave of absence will be considered as in school for purposes of repayment of federal loans. Should the student not return from an approved leave of absence, the last date of attendance will be considered the date the approved leave of absence began.
When a student withdraws from the College, the last date of attendance will be determined as outlined in the "Leaves of Absence, Withdrawals, and Readmissions" section of the undergraduate catalog.
A student who is provided a continuation leave will be reported as withdrawn since federal regulations do not allow for the period of study to be interrupted for more than 180 days, excluding standard periods of non-enrollment.
Before being granted approval for withdrawal, leave of absence, or a continuation leave, all students who are federal loan recipients are required to be counseled by the Office of Financial Aid to discuss the consequences of their changed status on loan programs.
