Federal law specifies how Clemson University must determine the amount of federal (Title IV) financial aid that you earn if you withdraw from school. The federal programs that are covered by this law are Federal Unsubsidized Direct Loans, Federal Subsidized Direct Loans, Federal Perkins Loans, Federal Graduate PLUS Loans, Federal Parent PLUS Loans, Federal Pell Grants, Federal Supplemental Educational Opportunity Grants, and Iraq/Afghanistan Service Grants.
When you withdraw during your payment period, the amount of federal financial aid that you have earned up to that point is determined by a specific formula. If you received (or Clemson University or your parent received on your behalf) less assistance than the amount that you earned, you may be able to receive those additional funds as a Post-Withdrawal Disbursement. If you received more assistance than you earned, the excess funds must be returned to the government by Clemson University and/or you. This is called a Return to Title IV (or R2T4).
The amount of assistance that you have earned is determined on a pro-rata basis. For example, if you completed 30 percent of your payment period, you earn 30 percent of the assistance you were originally scheduled to receive. Once you have completed more than 60 percent of the payment period, you earn all the assistance that you were scheduled to receive for that period.
If you received (or Clemson University or your parent received on your behalf) excess federal financial aid that must be returned, Clemson University must return a portion of the excess equal to the lesser of:
- Your institutional charges multiplied by the unearned percentage of your funds, or
- The entire amount of excess funds.
Clemson University must return this amount even if we did not keep this amount of your federal financial aid. This may create a significant indebtedness for you if this aid was used to pay for charges for which you are still responsible or if you received these funds as a refund.
If Clemson University 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.
Any amount of unearned grant funds that you must return is called an overpayment. The maximum amount of a grant overpayment that you must repay is half of the grant funds you received or were scheduled to receive. You do not have to repay a grant overpayment if the original amount of the overpayment is $50 or less. You must make arrangements with Clemson University to return the unearned grant funds.
The requirements for federal financial aid funds when you withdraw are separate from Clemson’s adjustment policy for institutional charges. Therefore, you may still owe funds to cover unpaid institutional charges. Clemson University will also charge you for any federal financial aid that we were required to return. Be sure you are aware of the adjustment policy, academic consequences, and withdrawal procedures before making your final decision.
If you have questions about your federal financial aid, you can call the Office of Student Financial Aid at 864-656-2280 or email finaid@clemson.edu. Also, you can call the Federal Student Aid Information Center at 1-800-4-FEDAID (1-800-433-3243). TTY users may call 1-800-730-8913. Information is also available at studentaid.gov.