E-mail this pageReturn of Federal Student Aid Funds when Students Withdraw from SUNY Plattsburgh
Federal law specifies how Plattsburgh must determine the amount of Title IV program assistance that students earn if they withdraw from college. The Title IV programs that are covered by this law are: Federal Pell Grants, Academic Competitiveness Grants, National SMART grants, TEACH Grants, Stafford Loans, PLUS Loans, Federal Supplemental Educational Opportunity Grants (FSEOGs), and Federal Perkins Loans.
When you withdraw during your payment period or period of enrollment the amount of Title IV program assistance that you have earned up to that point is determined by a specific formula. If you received (or Plattsburgh or parent received on your behalf) less assistance than the amount that you earned, you may be able to receive those additional funds. If you received more assistance than you earned, the excess funds must be returned by Plattsburgh and /or you.
View College Withdrawal Policy
The amount of assistance that you have earned is determined on a prorate basis. For example, if you completed 30% of your payment period or period of enrollment, you earn 30% of the assistance you were originally scheduled to receive. Once you have completed more than 60% of the payment period or period of enrollment, you earn all the assistance that you were scheduled to receive for that period.
If you did not receive all of the funds that you earned, you may be due a post-withdrawal disbursement. If your post-withdrawal disbursement includes loan funds, Plattsburgh must get your permission before it can disburse them. You may choose to decline some or all of the loan funds so that you don't incur additional debt. Plattsburgh may automatically use all or a portion of your post-withdrawal disbursement of grant funds for tuition, fees, and room and board charges. Plattsburgh needs your authorization to use the post-withdrawal grant disbursement for all other charges. If you do not give your permission, you will be offered the funds. However, it may be in your best interest to allow Plattsburgh to keep the funds to reduce your debt to Plattsburgh.
There are some Title IV funds that you were scheduled to receive that cannot be disbursed to you once you withdraw because of other eligibility requirements. For example, if you are a first-time, first-year undergraduate student and you have not completed the first 30 days of your program before you withdraw, you will not receive any Direct loan funds that you would have received had you remained enrolled past the 30th day.
If you receive (or Plattsburgh or parent receive on your behalf) excess Title IV program funds that must be returned, Plattsburgh must return a portion of the excess equal to the lesser of:
- Your institutional charges multiplied by the unearned percentage of your funds, or
- Entire amount of excess funds.
Plattsburgh must return this amount even if it didn't keep this amount of your Title IV program funds.
If Plattsburgh is not required to return all of the excess funds, you must return the remaining amount. Any loan funds that you must return, you (or your parent for a PLUS Loan) repay in accordance with the terms of the promissory note. That is, you make scheduled payments to the holder of the loan over a period of time.
Contact Information
For more information about Financial Aid at SUNY Plattsburgh, please contact:
Financial Aid Office
Phone: (518) 564-2072
Toll-Free Phone: (877) 768-5976
Fax: (518)564-4079
E-mail: finaid@plattsburgh.edu
Our mailing address:
Financial Aid OfficeSUNY Plattsburgh
101 Broad Street
Plattsburgh, NY 12901-12681