El Paso Community College returns unearned funds received from federal student assistance programs to the proper program accounts or lenders in accordance to the 1998 amendments of the Higher Education Act of 1965, under 34 CFR, section 668.22(d).
Students receiving assistance from Federal Title IV programs are required to complete a minimum number of hours for which assistance was received. If the student completely withdraws from school during the semester, or stops attending, but fails to officially withdraw and receives a failing grade in all classes and cannot provide documentation from an instructor that they attended class for at least 60 percent of the enrollment period, the student may be required to return the unearned part of the funds which were received to help pay educational expenses for the semester. Liability for return of Title IV funds will be determined according to the following guidelines:
- If the student completely withdraws from all classes before completing 60% of the semester, a pro-rated portion of the federal aid received, based on the documented last date of attendance, must be returned to the federal aid programs.
- If the student does not officially withdraw from classes, and stops attending all classes, a pro-rated portion of the federal aid received, based on the documented last date of attendance, must be returned to the federal aid programs. If the college is unable to document the last date of attendance, the midpoint of the term will be used as the last date of attendance in the calculation
- If the student remains enrolled and completes more than 60% of the semester in which aid is received, all federal aid is considered earned and the student will not be required to return any aid.
Return of Federal Title IV funds will be distributed according to statutory regulations. If a student's share of the return amount exists, the student will be notified and allowed 45 days from the date of determination to return the funds to our business office for deposit into the federal programs accounts. If the student does not return the amount owed within the 45 day period, the amount of overpayment will be reported to the U.S. Department of Education (DOE) via the National Student Loan Database (NSLDS) and the student will be referred to DOE for resolution of the debt.