Withdrawal and Financial Aid

Title IV funds are awarded to students under the assumption they will attend school for the entire period for which the aid is awarded. Upon withdrawing from Adler University, a student may no longer be eligible for the entire amount of Title IV aid they were awarded and/or received. For the purpose of this policy, the withdrawal date will be based on the last date of academic activity, as reported by the Registrar. Federal aid is earned for each day that progresses in the term prior to the withdrawal, so the Office of Financial Aid is required to calculate how much of the Title IV assistance the student earned using the following formula:

Federal Title IV aid includes the Direct Unsubsidized Stafford Loan and the Direct Graduate PLUS loan. Unearned Title IV aid is returned in the following order:

1. Federal Direct Unsubsidized Stafford Loans
   1. Federal Graduate PLUS Loans

If the student withdraws after 60% of the term has passed, they are considered to have earned all of their Title IV aid for that period.

Any student who begins classes at Adler, applies for financial aid, completes all of the requirements to obtain that aid, and then fails to receive at least one passing grade for the semester will be considered a withdrawal/unofficial withdrawal for the purpose of this policy and subject to the R2T4 calculation. Grades of “D”, “F”, “NC”, “W”, “WF”, “WNC”, “I”, and “IP” are considered to be non-passing grades for the purposes of this policy.

For students in this situation, attendance records and academically-related activity for the student will be reviewed with the course instructors to determine the last date of attendance. The withdrawal date will be based on (1) the last date of attendance, as reported by the instructor, or (2) the midpoint of the semester for those students for whom the instructor does not report, or cannot determine, a last date of attendance.

Students who are assigned a grade of “I” or “IP” and do not receive passing grades for other coursework in the same semester will not be considered a withdrawal for the semester in question if the “I” or “IP” grade converts to a passing grade within 30 days of the semester’s last date of attendance as verified by the Registrar’s Office.

Students who fail to receive at least one passing grade for coursework in the first session of a semester but who completed that coursework based on the last date of attendance will not be considered a withdrawal if they begin attendance in previously-enrolled coursework in the second session of the same semester, unless the student subsequently fails to receive at least one passing grade for the second session of the same semester.

If the amount of Title IV aid disbursed is less than the amount the student is eligible to receive, the student may receive a post-withdrawal disbursement to his or her tuition account at Adler University. If this post- withdrawal disbursement contains loan funds, the Financial Aid Office will alert the student of the availability of those loan funds via an email to their Adler email account no later than 30 days from the determination of withdrawal. This email will request confirmation from the student as to whether they approve disbursement of the funds as funds will not be disbursed without student approval.

The student must also authorize Adler to use the post-withdrawal disbursement to cover all other charges other than tuition and fees on their account. If the student does not authorize the school to use these funds to cover other charges, the funds will be refunded to the student after covering outstanding tuition and fee charges and s/he will be responsible for any balance due.

There are some Title IV funds that the student may have been scheduled to receive that cannot be disbursed once the student has withdrawn because of other eligibility requirements. For example, a Stafford loan disbursement cannot be made if the student has not signed the appropriate promissory note for that program.

If the amount of aid disbursed to the student is greater than the amount s/he is eligible to receive, this overage must be returned to the federal programs.

The student and/or Adler University may be responsible for returning the assistance. Adler University’s share is the lesser of:

• the total amount of unearned aid or
• the institutional charges for the term multiplied by the percentage of unearned aid.

Adler’s share is returned by removing the aid from the student’s tuition account. If a balance is subsequently created on the student’s tuition account, the student will be billed and is responsible for these charges. Students may also be required to return amounts that were refunded to them to use for living expenses for the term.

Any credit balance on the student account that is a result of the R2T4 calculation will be disbursed as soon as possible and no later than 14 days after the R2T4 calculation.

Funds are returned, where necessary, and students are notified via an email to their Adler email account no later than 30 days from the determination of withdrawal. In cases where the student may not have access to their Adler email account, a paper version of the notification email will be mailed to the address on file with the University. The notification will provide detailed information about Adler’s share of funds that was returned.

In general, the student is responsible for returning any amount of unearned aid in excess of the amount Adler is required to return. Any loan amount that must be returned must be repaid in accordance with the terms of that loan’s promissory note (i.e. the student will make scheduled payments to the holder of the loan over a period of time).

The tuition refund policy can be found in the Adler University Course Catalog. Please note that students may be found liable for tuition and fee amounts charged for the term in which they are withdrawing, and may have limited eligibility for financial assistance to pay for those charges. The University’s tuition refund policy has no bearing on the federally-required R2T4 calculation.

Some coursework at Adler University is considered to be modular in nature. Modules exist when courses do not span the entire academic term. Recent federal modifications to the R2T4 calculation process impacts the calculation differently depending upon the student’s enrollment for the semester in question.

For withdrawals prior to the Summer 2021 semester: a student is considered to have withdrawn for Title IV aid purposes if the student ceases attendance at any point prior to completing the payment period or period of enrollment, unless Adler University receives written confirmation from the student at the time of withdrawal indicating that they will resume attendance in a later module. The expected return module indicated on the University’s Leave of Absence paperwork is filled out at the time of withdrawal and is considered confirmation of future attendance. If the student provides written confirmation that they will resume attendance and the student fails to return at that future date, the student is considered to have withdrawn for Title IV aid purposes as of the original date of withdrawal.

For withdrawals in the Summer 2021 semester and beyond: if a student stops attending or fails to begin attending all semester coursework but meets any of the following conditions, the student will be considered to have made an enrollment change and will not subject to the following R2T4 guidelines for the applicable semester:

• The student completed all requirements for graduation
• The student successfully completed all coursework in the first session of the semester
• The student successfully completed at least 3 credits worth of coursework for the semester, or the student successfully completed a half-time and/or full-time exception course for the semester
• The student initiated a leave of absence for the first session and confirmed on their leave of absence paperwork that they plan to return for the second session of the same semester

If a student does not meet any of the above conditions and ceases attendance at any point prior to completing the payment period or period of enrollment, the student is considered to have withdrawn from the semester for Title IV aid purposes. If the student provides written confirmation that they will resume attendance and the student fails to return at that future date, the student is considered to have withdrawn for Title IV aid purposes as of the original date of withdrawal.

Withdrawing might impact future eligibility for federal and institutional financial aid. Please review the Satisfactory Academic Progress (SAP) requirements on the Financial Aid Office’s website.

Students wishing to withdraw in good standing from Adler University must follow the published policy of the Registrar’s Office. The Registrar’s Office is the designated office that a student must notify if s/he wishes to withdraw from the University.