Are you withdrawing or taking a Leave of Absence?
Learn how your financial aid may be impacted
return of federal title iv aid
Students are given 100% of their financial aid at the start of the semester assuming that they will complete it. If the student receives financial aid and officially or unofficially withdraws/takes a leave of absence from the university before 60% of the semester has been completed, an adjustment must be made to their financial aid based on the percentage of time the student was enrolled.
For federal aid, a Title IV Calculation (R2T4) is completed based on the last date of attendance entered by the Registrar's Office. This calculation determines how much, if any, federal financial aid needs to be returned to the Department of Education (including Federal Pell Grant, Federal SEOG, TEACH Grant, Federal Perkins Loans, Federal Stafford Loans, and Federal PLUS Loans, but not Federal Work-Study). For state aid, funds are generally returned in accordance with the University Refund Policy for tuition and fees. Please see below for more detailed information.
Important Information & Dates:
- For the SPRING 2023 semester, the date that your financial aid will no longer be adjusted is Friday, March 31, 2023.
- If you withdraw from the University (either officially or unofficially) before Friday, March 31, 2023, you may have to repay some of the federal monies that were already disbursed to you.
- Please note that withdrawing from the university will have an effect on your future financial aid eligibility. See the previous section on Maintaining Financial Aid Eligibility for more information.
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HOW IS MY WITHDRAW DATE DETERMINED?
Your withdrawal date will be determined by the University as:
- The date you began the University’s withdrawal process (as described in the Schedule of Classes) or the date you officially notified the Registrar of your intent to withdraw;
- The midpoint of the semester if you withdraw without notifying the University; or
- Your last date of attendance at an academically-related activity as documented by the University.
The Registrar’s Office notifies the Office of Financial Aid of the official withdrawal date, or the determination date.
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Return of Federal Financial Aid
Once you have officially or unofficially withdrawn/taken a leave of absence and the Registrar's Office has provided your last date of attendance, the Office of Financial Aid will process a Return of Title IV Calculation (R2T4) to determine the amounts of aid to be returned (if the date is before the 60% date). This calculation will be completed within 45 days of being notified by the Registrar's Office.
Financial aid which must be returned is calculated and then appropriated the following way:
- Unsubsidized Federal Stafford Loan*
- Subsidized Federal Stafford Loan*
- Federal Perkins Loan
- Federal PLUS Loan
- Federal Pell Grant**
- Federal SEOG Grant**
- Other Federal Aid
- PHEAA's PA State Grant
- Other Aid
*Loan amounts are returned in accordance with the terms of the promissory note signed by the student.
**Amounts to be returned by the student to federal grant programs will receive a 50% discount.
All students will receive a letter mailed to their home address detailing the aid returned.
- All aid is returned in accordance with federal regulations.
- If Title IV program funds would be required to be returned by the student, Millersville will return the student portion on their behalf.
- If a student earned more aid than was disbursed, Millersville would owe the student a post-withdrawal disbursement which must be paid within 120 days of the student’s withdrawal.
- Students who may be eligible for a post-withdraw disbursement of aid will receive a letter detailing the amount they may be eligible for and the steps they need to take to receive those funds. Please note, if a student has outstanding requirements that prevented the disbursement of their aid, the student must first complete those requirements before a post-withdrawal disbursement can be made.
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RETURN OF STATE FINANCIAL AID
The following policy applies for those students who receive a PA State Grant and change enrollment status [full-time (12 or more credits), part-time (6-11 credits), or less than half-time (1-5 credits)] or completely withdraw from the University during the first 5 weeks of classes:
- If a student initially enrolls in classes but withdraws, drops credits, takes a leave of absence, or is terminated (suspended or dismissed) prior to the end of the term, a refund to PHEAA of all or a portion of the PA State Grant may be required.
- When a student (full-time or part-time) withdraws or drops to less than half-time (or otherwise ceases to be eligible for State Grant aid) before the end of the term and before State Grant funds have been credited, the student is not eligible for any portion of the term disbursement, regardless of the date on which the student withdrew.
- Similarly, an increase in the award for the term cannot be credited after the student has withdrawn or dropped to less than half-time status during the term.
- If State Grant funds have not been credited, then the amount of the award will be based on the enrollment at the time the funds are awarded.
If a student completely withdraws from the university, the PA State Grant will be adjusted based on the chart below:
Timeline Percentage Student May Keep Percentage to be returned to PHEAA During Week 1 (Tuesday, Jan 17 - Tuesday, Jan 24) 0% 100% During Week 2 (Wednesday, Jan 25 - Friday, Jan 27) 20% 80% During Week 3 (Monday, Jan 30 - Friday, Feb 3) 40% 60% During Week 4 (Monday, Feb 6 - Friday, Feb 10) 50% 50% During Week 5 (Monday, Feb 13 - Friday, Feb 17) 60% 40% During Week 6 (Monday, Feb 20 - end of semester) 100% 0%
If the student changes enrollment status [drops from full-time enrollment (12 or more credits) to part-time (6-11 credits)] after State Grant funds have been credited and during the drop period:
- The PA State Grant must be adjusted to the part-time award amount.
- The overpayment of the State Grant must be returned to PHEAA by the University.
If a student changes enrollment status after the first week of classes but remains enrolled in at least one course:
- The PA State Grant will not be adjusted since the student will receive no refund on tuition payments after the first week of classes unless s/he completely withdraws.
If a student changes enrollment status or completely withdraws (officially or unofficially) from the University on or after Friday, October 29:
- The PA State Grant will not be adjusted.
- (Federal aid can still be adjusted - please see the information regarding withdrawing from the university beginning at the top of this page).
Please note that changing enrollment status or withdrawing from the university will have an effect on your future financial aid eligibility for the PA State Grant. See Maintaining Financial Aid Eligibility.
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CAN YOU ESTIMATE THE IMPACT A WITHDRAWAL OR LEAVE OF ABSENCE MAY HAVE ON MY FINANCIAL AID?
The return of financial aid calculations are based on federal and state guidelines and may not correspond to the Millersville University refund policy for tuition and fees. To determine if there will be adjustments to charges for the semester in which the student withdraws, please see the Office of Student Accounts information regarding Refunds.
Will I owe a bill to the university?
- The Office of Financial Aid cannot estimate if the student will owe money back to the university. We must wait until the student actually withdraws and once that withdrawal date is entered, we will process the Return of Title IV (R2T4) Calculation.
- In general, if financial aid fully covered a student’s billed charges at the university and it was determined that federal aid money needs to be returned, then it is likely the student will owe money back to the university.
- If the student had to make a payment to cover their bill after aid was applied or if they receive a partial refund of their billed charges (tuition, fees, room, meal plan), it is possible that a student may not owe money back to the university.
What happens if I decide to proceed with withdrawing or taking a leave of absence from the university?
- If you withdraw or take a leave of absence from the University and a Return of Title IV (R2T4) Calculation is completed on your account you will be mailed a letter to your home address if federal aid needed to be returned on your behalf; this letter will detail the amounts returned.
- It is possible that a return of aid may result in a balance to the university. We recommend if a student receives a letter from our office detailing a return of aid, that they contact the Office of Student Accounts to check if the return of aid caused a balance due at the university.
- If a balance is owed to the university, the Office of Student Accounts will send a bill to the student requiring payment.
- The student will not be permitted to re-register with the university until the balance has been paid.
- For questions about billing or payments to the university because of withdrawing, the student should contact the Office of Student Accounts directly at 717-871-5101.
- The Office of Financial Aid cannot estimate if the student will owe money back to the university. We must wait until the student actually withdraws and once that withdrawal date is entered, we will process the Return of Title IV (R2T4) Calculation.
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Contact Info
Lyle Hall, 2nd Floor, Room 241
Office Hours:
Call Center Hours:
Standard: Mon.-Fri. 8:00 am to 4:30 pm (mid-August to mid-May) Summer: Mon.-Fri. 8:00 am to 4:00 pm (mid-May to mid-August)
Available by Phone: Mon.-Fri. 8:00am to 6:00pm
Phone: 717-871-5100
Fax: 717-871-7980
Email: fa.mail@millersville.eduUSPS Mailing Address:
Office of Financial Aid
Millersville University
P.O. Box 1002
Millersville, PA 17551-0302Address for UPS/FedEx:
Office of Financial Aid
Lyle Hall, 2nd Floor
40 Dilworth Rd
Millersville, PA 17551-0302