Changes in Enrollment

Changes in enrollment during an academic period may include:

• unofficial and official withdrawals from The University,
• approved Leave of Absence,
• dropping classes,
• ceasing to attend all courses,
• changes in the number of credits taken during the period, or
• changes to your program of study that occur during an academic period. 

Such changes may impact the aid awarded for that period.

Only courses that count towards meeting the requirements of your degree can be used to determine enrollment status (i.e. full-time, 3/4-time, half-time, less than half-time, not enrolled) for federal student aid programs. This means the enrollment status used to determine your eligibility for federal student aid programs may be different from the enrollment status in your academic record. Students' enrollment status may change when students change majors during an academic period. In such cases, the Financial Aid Office may be required to prorate or return aid for that period. 

Students who withdraw (officially or unofficially) before completing 60% of the academic period in which they were enrolled are subject to the federal Return to Title IV calculation, and a portion of any federal student aid received for that academic period may need to be returned (see section on Return of Federal Student Aid for more information). Title IV is the section of the Higher Education Act of 1965 (HEA) which creates the federal student aid programs and the regulations that govern them. Withdrawal date is defined as the date on which the student began the institution’s official withdrawal process, the student’s last date of recorded attendance or academically related activity, or the midpoint of the semester if the aforementioned dates cannot be determined. The withdrawal date is determined by the Financial Aid Office.

Faculty award the grade of "NF" (no-show, failure) to any student who has not officially withdrawn yet has stopped participating at some point in the academic period.  The "NF" grade is equivalent to an "F". The Financial Aid Office will review all students who earn all “NF” or all “F” grades in an academic period to determine if a return of funds is required. Students who earn all '"NF" or all "F" grades may be considered to have 'unofficially withdrawn' from the academic period. 

Students who withdraw during an academic period may also lose future aid eligibility. See the section on Renewal of Awards and Satisfactory Academic Progress requirements for more information.