All students who withdraw from the Seminary must submit written notice of withdrawal to the Registrar’s Office.

If a student, who is disbursed Title IV financial assistance, withdraws or stops attending class the semester in which the Title IV aid was disbursed, the following Return of Title IV Funds (R2T4) policy will be applied.

The Financial Aid Office is required by federal statute to recalculate federal financial aid eligibility for students who withdraw, drop out, are dismissed, or take a leave of absence prior to completing a payment or term.  The federal Title IV financial aid programs must be recalculated in these situations.

If a student leaves the institution prior to completing a payment period or term, the financial aid office recalculates eligibility for Title IV funds. Recalculation is based on the percentage of earned aid using the following Federal Return of Title IV funds formula R2T4:

Percentage of payment period or term completed= the number of days completed up to the withdrawal date divided by the total days in the payment period or term. (Any break of five days or more is not counted as part of the days in the term.) This percentage is also the percentage of earned aid.

Unofficial Withdrawals

If a student does not officially withdraw from all classes but fails to earn a passing grade in at least one course, federal aid regulations require that we assume the student has “unofficially withdrawn,” unless it can be documented that the student completed the enrollment period. Unofficial withdrawals require a Title IV refund calculation at the midpoint of the enrollment period. The reduction of federal aid will create a balance due to the institution that must be repaid.

Title IV Refund Process

Funds are returned to the appropriate federal program based on the percentage of unearned aid using the following formula:

Aid to be returned = (100% of the aid that could be disbursed minus the percentage of earned aid) multiplied by the total amount of aid that could have been disbursed during the payment period or term.

If a student earned less aid than was disbursed, the institution would be required to return a portion of the funds and the student would be required to return a portion of the funds. Keep in mind that when Title IV funds are returned, the student borrower may owe a debit balance to the institution.

If the student earned more aid than was disbursed to him/her, the institution would owe the student a post-withdrawal disbursement which must be paid within 120 days of the student’s withdrawal.

The institution must return the amount of Title IV funds for which it is responsible no later than 45 days after the date of determination of the date of the student’s withdrawal.

Refunds are allocated in the following order:

●      Unsubsidized Direct Stafford Loans

●      Direct Plus Loans

Failure to attend class or failure to resign properly could cause the student to receive a letter grade of “F” in all courses. In this case, the student would still be subject to the return of funds policy once an official withdrawal date is established. Merely discontinuing class attendance is not considered to be a formal resignation from the Seminary. Students who were awarded financial assistance and who discontinue class attendance may be held responsible for repayment of all tuition and fees. Please refer to the “Attendance Policy” section of the Southwest Student Handbook for requirements on class attendance.

In the event of a Seminarian’s withdrawal, or in the event a postulant or student otherwise ceases to attend the Seminary, then the institutional refund policy will be applied and tuition will be adjusted per the institutional tuition refund policy. The student may be liable for any Title IV funds disbursed to their account in excess of the amount allowed by federal regulations. The school will collect the portion of any assistance owed by the student. If no payment is received, holds will be placed on the student’s account and the student will lose eligibility for Title IV aid unless the overpayment is paid in full or satisfactory repayment arrangements are made. After the institutional refund has been credited, any remaining amount will be returned to the student.