Federal Student Aid – Return of Title IV Funds Policy
NOTE: This policy applies only to eligible US and eligible non-US citizens receiving Title IV funds.
The Higher Education Re-Authorization Act (HERA) of 1998 regulates the manner in which Universities process the return of Federal Title IV funds should a student be dismissed, withdraw or take a leave of absence while a term is in progress. The term „Title IV“ refers to aid programs as authorized under the Higher Education Act of 1965 (as amended) and includes the following programs available at Charles University in Prague, 2nd Faculty of Medicine (2nd Faculty of Medicine):
Federal Stafford Student Loan – Unsubsidized
Federal Stafford Student Loan – Subsidized
Federal PLUS Loans
If a student is dismissed or withdraws before the first day of classes, all Title IV will be returned to the appropriate program. A withdrawal refers to a student terminating his or her studies at the 2nd Faculty of Medicine.
The withdrawal date is the date the student officially informs the 2nd Faculty of Medicine of his/her intention to withdraw. In the absence of notification from the student, the last date the student attended will be used as the withdrawal date. If the last date of attendance cannot be determined, the 2nd Faculty of Medicine will assume a 50% attendance and use that date as the last day of attendance.
Regulations require the 2nd Faculty of Medicine to perform calculations within 30 days from the date the official withdrawal or dismissal is determined. The 2nd Faculty of Medicine must return any unearned funds to the lender within 45 days of the calculation.
The 2nd Faculty of Medicine is required to return any unearned amounts of Federal Title IV funds to the appropriate Federal program(s) if the student stops attending before 60% of the term is completed, as measured in days. Students who remain enrolled through more than 60% of the payment period (semester) are considered to have earned 100% of the aid received and will not owe a repayment of Federal Title IV funds.
Unearned Title IV funds must be returned to the appropriate program(s) in order to maintain aid eligibility for future enrollment periods. Any earned loan funds borrowed must be repaid according to the terms of the loan. Title IV aid is earned in a prorated manner on a per diem basis up to and including the 60% point in the semester. Title IV aid earned is calculated as follows:
| # of days completed by student | |
|
|
= % of semester completed |
| Total # of days in semester |
Note: Calculation does not include scheduled breaks of at least five consecutive days or days in which the student was on an approved leave of absence.
The percentage of the semester completed is the percentage of Title IV aid earned by the student. The percentage of Title IV unearned and to be returned is determined by subtracting the percentage earned from 100%.
The 2nd Faculty of Medicine Portion of Return of Title IV Funds
The amount of unearned aid that must be returned by the 2nd Faculty of Medicine is a percentage of the allowable institutional charges for the term. Once the dollar amount of the 2nd Faculty of Medicine's portion of the return is determined, it is compared to the total amount of all unearned aid. If the 2nd Faculty of Medicine's portion is less than the total unearned aid, then the 2nd Faculty of Medicine must return the amount of the 2nd Faculty of Medicine portion. If the 2nd Faculty of Medicine's portion exceeds the total unearned aid, then the 2nd Faculty of Medicine must return the amount of the total unearned aid.
Financial aid will be returned to the aid program from which it came, thus reducing outstanding loan balances. Returned Federal funds will be applied in the order listed below:
1st – Federal Stafford Student Loan – Unsubsidized
2nd – Federal Stafford Student Loan – Subsidized
3rd – Federal PLUS Loans
Student Portion of Return of Title IV Funds
The student portion of the return is calculated by subtracting the amount of the 2nd Faculty of Medicine return from the total unearned aid. Any amount of the total unearned aid that remains after the University's portion is returned becomes the student portion of the return. This amount, if any, is repayable after the student leaves the 2nd Faculty of Medicine as per the repayment terms and conditions attached to the applicable loan(s). The student will not be liable for these funds immediately upon withdrawal.
Post-Withdrawal Funds
If the Title IV aid amount disbursed to the student is less than the amount of Title IV earned, the difference is considered to be a post-withdrawal disbursement. Post-withdrawal eligibility can be used to credit outstanding charges on the student's tuition account. The 2nd Faculty of Medicine will notify the student and/or parent borrower of eligibility for a post-withdrawal disbursement. The student may decline the aid so that additional debt is not incurred.
Leave of Absences
For serious personal reasons (namely health and social) the Dean of the Faculty may allow the student to interrupt studies either on the student's own request or on his/her own initiative in the case of imminent detriment, the cause of which is not connected with the hitherto fulfilling of study duties. If the student applies for the interruption of studies in accordance with article 5 (2) of the second sentence of the Study and Examination Rules of the University, the Dean will approve the application; which however does not affect the provisions of paragraph 3 of this article.
With the exception of very serious reasons (namely health), study cannot be interrupted before the regular completion of the first year.
Study can be interrupted repeatedly, however the total duration of the interrupted study must not exceed, together with the actual duration (stipulated in article 5 (8) of the Study and Examination Rules of the University), the maximum study duration.
The interruption of study is recorded in the Student's Record Book (Index). As of the day of the interruption, the student loses his/her position as a student according to the Act on Universities and the terms for fulfilling study duties can neither begin nor continue.
When the student recommences studies, he/she is enrolled in the year in which the study was interrupted. In special cases the recommencement of studies of the student will be decided by the Dean.
If the study plan was modified during the interruption of study, the Dean will decide which study duties the student will have to fulfill and deadlines for their completion.
If the reasons for the interruption of study no longer exist, the Dean may, based on written application, terminate the interruption of the study even before the stated duration of the study interruption expires.
With expiration of the time for which the study was interrupted, the student, whose study was interrupted, is entitled to renewed enrolment.
For the purposes of Title IV aid, the number of days in the approved leave of absence, when added to the number of days in all other approved leaves of absence, must not exceed 180 days in any 12-month period.
Any failure to comply with the above conditions will result in the leave of absence being treated as a withdrawal.
Note
Students who withdraw from courses or the program will not have this factored into the qualitative aspect of Satisfactory Academic Progress (SAP) but this will be considered in the quantitative aspect of the Satisfactory Academic Progress standards and may affect the student's future eligibility for financial aid.
