If a student fails to earn a passing grade in any course during the semester, the Financial Aid office must determine if the F grades are earned or unearned. In the event the F grades are determined to be unearned, federal regulations state “the institution must assume, for Title IV purposes, that the student has unofficially withdrawn, unless the institution can document that the student completed the period” (DCL GEN-04-03 Revised, November 2004).
To make this determination of whether the F grades are earned or unearned, the Financial Aid office will rely on a combination of the institution’s grading policy, faculty reported last date of attendance, and/or other college information as appropriate. For more information on CCBC’s grading policy,
view the college catalog.
If the Financial Aid office is unable to document attendance in any courses, federal regulations require that all aid be pulled back and returned to the Department of Education (34 CFR 668.21). If attendance is documented in one or more of the student’s courses, the Financial Aid office use the latest date of attendance for the R2T4 calculation. In the event that no last date of attendance is reported, but the student had passing midterm grades, the Financial Aid office will process the R2T4 using the 50% point of the semester as indicated in the federal regulations (34 CFR 668.22(c)(1)(iii)).
All unearned financial aid will be returned either to the Department of Education or, in the case of loans, the lender. The student will receive a bill for any unpaid tuition, fees and book charges on their account that is created by the return of funds.