Return of Financial Aid Funds Policy
Federal Financial Aid (Title IV) Repayments
Students who are recipients of federal financial aid and who officially or unofficially withdraw before completing the quarter of enrollment will owe a repayment of unearned federal Title IV funds. Federal financial aid is considered to be fully earned when a student attends, or otherwise academically participates in, one or more enrolled classes for at least 60 percent of the quarter. If a student ceases attendance or participation in all classes prior to the 60 percent point in the quarter, the Financial Aid Office will calculate, using federal pro rata schedules, how much aid was earned vs. unearned. The unearned portions of aid must be returned and the student will be notified regarding any repayment owed.
Federal financial aid recipients who do not officially withdraw and earn zero credits with a 0.0 grade point average will be assumed to have unofficially withdrawn. Instructors will provide the student’s estimated last date of attendance when posting a 0.0 grade. If none of the student’s estimated last dates of attendance exceed the 60 percent timeframe for the quarter, then the return of funds calculation will be performed using the midpoint of the quarter as the last date of attendance.
The order of the return of funds is as follows: Direct Unsubsidized Loan, Direct Subsidized Loan, Direct Parent PLUS Loan, Pell Grant, Supplemental Educational Opportunity Grant (SEOG), other Title IV assistance.
The CBC Tuition Refund Policy will apply if a student officially withdraws before
completing the quarter of attendance.
WA State Financial Aid Repayments
Students who are recipients of WA State financial aid (WA College Grant and College Bound Scholarship) and who fail to attend classes, who withdraw or drop all classes prior to the start of the quarter, fail to commence attendance in all classes for which their enrollment level/award amount are based on or who receive funding based on fraudulent information will be required to repay 100% of the funds received.
Students who fail to commence attendance in one or more classes for which their enrollment
level/award amount is based will have their state aid eligibility recalculated to
match their enrollment level for the classes they attended and will be required to
repay the difference between the original award and the new award amount.
Census Date
The census date is the date by which a student’s enrollment for financial aid eligibility is finalized/frozen for the Federal Pell Grant and WA State aid. The census date for Fall, Winter and Spring quarter is the 10th instructional day of the quarter. For Summer quarter, the census date is the 8th instructional day.
If a student’s federal and/or state aid was disbursed prior to the census date and their enrollment has either increased or decreased by the end of the census date, the student’s federal and/or state aid will be increased or decreased to align with their enrollment level as of that date. If the student’s enrollment has increased the student will be awarded and disbursed the appropriate increase of federal and/or state aid funds. If the student’s enrollment has decreased the federal and/or state funds will be reduced to align with the new enrollment and the student may owe a repayment.
Students who commence attendance/participation in all enrolled classes and then make enrollment adjustments (adding or dropping/withdrawing from classes) after disbursement and after the census date will be subject to completion of Satisfactory Academic Progress requirements.
