College Policy on Never Attended and Withdrawals

The current refund policy allows a 100% refund of tuition paid for curriculum classes dropped prior to the first day of the academic term. A 75% refund is issued for curriculum classes dropped on or after the first day of the term through the 10% point of term. Tuition paid and applicable fees will be refunded 100% for classes canceled by the college.

College Attendance Policy

Information for students regarding attendance and financial aid

Failure to attend class and/or withdrawal from class may impact your financial assistance.

Purpose

Failure to attend class may impact scholarships, grants, loans, veteran affairs, and financial aid assistance. Federal regulations require that institutions provide the last date of class attendance or the last date of participation in an academic-related activity for federal financial aid recipients. The purpose of the Last Date of Attendance regulation is to accurately calculate earned federal financial aid for students, exercise institutional administrative capability, and mitigate liabilities and consequences for the college and students.

Student Implications of Stopping Attendance

You will be marked Stopped Attending if you consecutively miss all scheduled class/lab meetings (or Brightspace assignments if the course is online, hybrid, or blended) within 12.5% or 1/8 of the total class meetings (approximately 2 weeks for a 16-week class or 1 week for an 8-week class).

If you have difficulties attending a session, you should contact your instructor immediately.

Important: A student marked Stopped Attending cannot continue attending or working on the course. Any possible assignment submissions after being marked Stopped Attending will not be graded and will not count toward your final grade. Stop Attending students may earn a failing grade for the class.

Attendance reports indicating that you have stopped attending a class may affect the amount of your financial aid award. Based on the last date that a course was attended, your financial aid award could be reduced and you could owe a refund to the college or to the United States Department of Education. You may also risk future financial aid eligibility.

If you have questions, contact the Financial Aid office at 704-330-6942.

The current refund policy allows a 100% refund of tuition paid for curriculum classes dropped prior to the first day of the academic term. A 75% refund is issued for curriculum classes dropped on or after the first day of the term through the 10% point of term. Tuition paid and applicable fees will be refunded 100% for classes cancelled by the college.

Financial Aid Policy

When you determine that you will be unable to complete courses in which you are currently enrolled, it is your responsibility to initiate procedures leading to a formal withdrawal (“W”) in order to avoid a failing (“F”) grade. An instructor may also assign “W” at other times when circumstances warrant such action.

In general, for financial aid students, a “W” will remain on your transcript and will count as credit hours attempted. To receive credit after getting a “W,” you must retake the course in a subsequent term. Financial aid recipients need to refer to the academic standards to determine how schedule adjustments will affect financial aid. Final dates for withdrawing are published each term in the Central Piedmont Class Schedule and are available on this website.

Always talk to a financial aid advisor about the Return of Federal Funds before starting the withdrawal process. See Return of Title IV Funds Policy

Withdrawing from a Course or All Your Classes

Withdrawing from a course or all your classes will affect your financial aid. Before withdrawing or stopping attendance in classes, know the proper procedure for withdrawing from classes and the consequences of withdrawing or stopping attendance. Officially withdrawing is your responsibility. Questions on Return of Title IV Funds may be addressed to Financial Aid office. Questions on withdrawal should be addressed with an advisor.

Return of Title IV Financial Aid Funds Policy

Students receiving financial aid who withdraw or stop attending will, in most cases, be required to return a portion of financial aid received. The Higher Education Act, as reauthorized and signed into law on October 7, 1998, established the return of Title IV Funds Policy.

This revised Central Piedmont Community College policy reflects new regulations published 10/29/2010 that became law 07/01/2011. The concept behind the policy is that the college and the student are allowed to retain only the amount of Title IV (federal) aid that is earned. If a student withdraws or stops attending classes, whether any credits have been earned for the term or not, a portion of the aid received is considered to be unearned and must be returned to the Title IV programs from which it was received. For Title IV purposes, the withdrawal date is the last date of attendance as determined by attendance records.

If you attend through 60 percent of the term, all your Title IV aid is considered earned. However, withdrawing will affect your satisfactory academic progress and eligibility for additional financial aid.

Definitions

Return to Title IV (R2T4) calculation – a required calculation to determine the amount of aid earned by the student when the student does not attend all days scheduled to complete within a payment period or term. (Student is considered to be a withdrawal, whether any credits were completed or not).

Overaward [not the same as a Return to Title IV calculation] – a required recalculation of Federal Pell Grant and other types of aid types due to student dropping or not attending credits required for the status awarded (full-time, three-quarter time, half-time, less than half-time); required at any point when information is received that changes the student’s enrollment status. Reduction in aid will always be required for students whose status changes due to dropping classes and classes not attended.

Clarification of New Regulations

A student who attends and completes at least one course that spans the entire term will have earned the aid for that term (after adjustments for dropped classes or classes not attended).

School must be able to demonstrate that student actually attended each class, including any class with a failing grade. Attendance must be “academic attendance” or “attendance at an academically-related activity.” Documentation of Attendance must be made by the school. A student’s self-certification of attendance is NOT acceptable unless supported by school’s documentation. Examples of attendance include:

• Physical class attendance where there is direct interaction between instructor and student
• Submission of an academic assignment
• Study group assigned by the school
• Examination, interactive tutorial, or computer-assisted instruction
• Participation in an online discussion about academic matters
• Initiation of contact with instructor to ask question about academic subject

Logging in to an online class does not count as attendance

A student who withdraws from a part-of-term class within the term must still be attending another class or is considered to be a withdrawal, even if registered for future classes starting in the term. The student must – at the time of withdrawal from a part-of term class, if they are not attending another class – provide a written statement to the college indicating their intent to attend a future class within that term, or the student is a withdrawal; a Return to Title IV calculation must be completed. (If student does not actually attend that future class, a Return to Title IV calculation is still required; withdraw date/last date of attendance dates back to originally confirmed date).

Examples of withdrawal scenarios (PDF)

Questions to Ask

Did the student stop attending a class that they were scheduled to attend?

• If yes, go to question 2

At the time the student stopped attending this course, were they continuing to attend other courses?

• If yes, the student is not a withdrawal
• If no, go to question 3

At the time of withdrawal, did the student provide written confirmation of anticipated attendance in a later starting, registered course within the term?

• If no, student is considered a withdrawal, and a Return to Title IV calculation must be completed
• If yes, no Return to Title IV calculation is required unless the student does not attend or quits the future part of term class

Remember: Recalculation of aid for enrollment-status changes due to dropped or never attended classes is required before any Return to Title IV calculation is completed.

The Return to Title IV Process

The first step is a series of formulas to determine the amount of aid which must be returned. Following the determination of the last date of attendance, the school must calculate the number of days attended and the total number of days the student was scheduled to complete within the term; weekends count and any periods of no classes which are five days in length or greater are excluded. Days attended are then divided by the days in the term the student was scheduled to complete to calculate percentage completed. The percentage is multiplied by total aid for which the student is eligible to determine the amount of aid earned (% completed x total aid = earned aid). Total aid – earned aid = unearned aid (aid to be returned).

The next step is for the school to determine total institutional charges and multiply that figure by the percentage of unearned aid (100% - % completed = % unearned). It makes no difference which type of resource actually paid the school bill; the law assumes that Title IV aid goes first to pay the institutional charges. Institutional charges x % unearned = amount returned by school.

The school must then return the amount of unearned aid, up to the maximum received, to each of the Title IV programs in the following order:

• Federal Pell Grant
• Federal Supplemental Education Opportunity Grant (SEOG)

The school then calculates the amount for which the student is responsible by subtracting the amount returned by the school from the total amount which is unearned. That remaining amount is the student’s share and is allocated in the same order as above. Total amount unearned – amount returned by school = $ amount the student is required to return to Title IV funds.

Once the school determines the dollar amounts owed, you will be notified of what you owe. For grant dollars that must be paid, the amount due from a student is limited to the amount by which the original grant overpayment amount due from the student exceeds half of the total Title IV grants funds received by the student. A student has 45 days to make repayment and does not have to repay a grant overpayment of $50 or less. Unpaid balances will be reported to NSLDS, the National Student Loan Data System, and turned over to the U.S. Department of Education for collection. Until overpayments are repaid or satisfactory repayment arrangements have been made, students will be ineligible for further Title IV aid at any institution.

This policy is separate from the institutional refund policy. Unpaid balances due to Central Piedmont Community College that result from amounts returned to Title IV programs and other sources of aid will be charged back to the student. The student is also responsible for any additional balance.

If a student does not begin attendance in all classes or ceases attendance during the 100% refund period, aid may have to be reduced to reflect appropriate enrollment status prior to recalculating Return of Title IV Funds.

Title IV Repayment

Title IV (TIV) (federal) financial aid funds are awarded under the assumption that you will attend classes for the entire period (semester) for which your funds were awarded. 

When you withdraw from all courses for any reason, you may no longer be eligible for the full amount of TIV funds originally awarded. The return of funds to the federal government is based on the premise that you earn financial aid in proportion to the length of time during which you remain enrolled. A pro-rated schedule determines the amount of federal financial aid you will have earned at the time of full withdrawal. For example, if you withdraw in the second week of the semester, you have earned less of your financial aid than a student who withdraws in the fifth week. Once the 60% point in the semester is reached, you are considered to have earned all of the financial aid originally awarded and will not be required to return any funds. 

Federal regulations require a recalculation of financial aid eligibility if you:

• completely withdraw
• stop attending before the semester’s end
• do not complete all modules (sessions) in which you are enrolled as of the start date of the session 

If you receive federal financial aid but do not remain in attendance through the end of the semester, you could be responsible for repaying a portion of the financial aid you originally received. If you never begin classes (do not ever attend), you are not eligible for federal financial aid and must repay all financial aid you originally awarded.

Central Piedmont’s institutional tuition/fee refund policy is separate from federal regulations concerning the return of unearned financial aid. A tuition/fee refund from Central Piedmont will have no impact on the amount you must repay to federal financial aid programs. 

State Grant Repayments

If you receive funds from the North Carolina Community College Grant or the North Carolina Education Lottery Scholarship and completely withdraw from classes before the 30% point of the term, you will be required to repay a percentage of funds. 

Frequently Asked Questions

What happens to my tuition charges if I drop all my classes?

If a course is dropped before it begins...

• You will receive a full refund on tuition paid
• You are responsible for activity fees and insurance fees as these are non-refundable.
• You may return your books to the bookstore for a refund.
• You will be ineligible for financial aid.

If a course is dropped after it has started but before the 10% point of the class:

• You will receive a 75% refund on tuition paid.
• You are responsible for all fees including bookstore and any other charges.

What happens if I drop all of my classes?

If you drop all courses on or through the 10% point:

• The college will cancel all financial aid.
• You are responsible for all fees including bookstore and any other charges.

What if I Change My Mind About a Class?

It is imperative that you cancel your registration for any class you decide not to attend. This is especially important if you have been awarded financial aid, because your financial aid award holds your classes and prevents you from being automatically dropped for nonpayment. It is your responsibility to cancel your registration. If you decide not to attend a class or classes but fail to cancel your registration, you will be responsible for all tuition and fee charges for those classes.

What happens if I withdraw from all of my classes and receive all F's before completing 60% of the term?

• You will be required to return the portion of the financial aid that was not earned.
• The Return of Title IV Funds regulations only involve students receiving financial aid that completely withdraw from all classes, not those that drop a course.
• The following programs are adjusted. See Return of Title IV Funds Policy
  • Federal Plus Loans
  • Federal Direct Loans
  • Federal Pell Grants
  • Federal Supplemental Educational Opportunity Grant

What happens if I withdraw after I complete 60% of the term?

The U.S. Department of Education considers the student and the college to have earned all the financial aid paid for the semester. 

60 % Points for the 2023-2024 Academic Year

Session	Full Term	1st 8-Week Session	2nd 8-Week Session	12-Week Session
Fall 2023	10.30.23	09.16.23	11.20.23	11.09.23
Spring 2024	03.25.24	02.10.24	04.15.24	04.25.24
Summer 2024	06.24.24