Return of Title IV Funds Policy

If a student who receives Title IV funding withdraws, interrupts for more than 180 days, Goldsmiths, University of London will follow the requirements of returning funds laid down by the US Dept of Education and is applied alongside the college’s withdrawal and refund policy. The Financial Aid Office will use the worksheets as provided by the US Department of education to determine how much of the loan may be retained and how much must be returned.

If a student drops below half time attendance Goldsmiths will report the change in enrolment status to the US Dept of Education through NSLDS.

See Fee liability and refunds.

Return of funds by the school

A student ‘earns’ aid on a daily basis and therefore if a student withdraws any ‘unearned’ aid for that payment period need to be returned to the US Dept of Education. Once the amount the college and the student needs to return has been calculated, ‘unearned’ funds will be transferred via international wire transfer to the US Dept of Education’s G5 account and the student notified if they need to return any funds.

Loans are returned in the following order:

• Unsubsidised Stafford
• Subsidised Stafford
• PLUS (Graduate or Parent)

Goldsmiths will return any funds due to the Dept of Education within 45 days of the student's date of withdrawal.

There are some Title IV funds that students were scheduled to receive that cannot be earned once a student withdraws because of other eligibility requirements. For example, in certain circumstances, if a first-time, first-year undergraduate student has not completed the first 30 days of the program before withdrawal, the student will not earn any Direct loan funds that he or she would have received had the student remained enrolled past the 30th day.

A first-year undergraduate, receiving Aid for the first time who withdraws within the first 30 days of a programme will be deemed not to have earned any aid.

As this policy uses a different calculation to Goldsmiths, University of London withdrawal policy it may mean that the student owes Goldsmiths once the money has been returned to the lender. Students will be notified if this is the case.

Calculation of funds earned

The R2T4 calculation is based on the number of days a student has attended minus unscheduled leave that are 5 days or more divided by the total numbers of days in the Payment Period. Direct Loans is earned at 100% if the calculation results to more than 60% earned. The calculation is run against the disbursement made in the payment period the student withdraws. For example, a student who withdraws in payment period two will earn all funds for payment period one but may not for period two.

Payment Periods

Undergraduate

Period 1 is September through December

Period 2 is January through March

Period 3 is May through June

Postgraduate

Period 1 is September through 16 March

Period 2 is 17 March through September

 

Return of funds by student

If the student is notified that there are loan funds that must be returned by the student, the student should repay in accordance with the terms of the promissory note. That is, scheduled payments are made to the holder of the loan over a period of time. Students who have received a refund of their loan proceeds before withdrawing may be required to return part or all of those funds to the lender.

Post-withdrawal disbursement

Goldsmiths must provide written notification within 30 days of the date of withdrawal to the US Dept of Education. Following calculation, students will be informed if there are any undisbursed funds. They will be advised on the type of funds to be disbursed (ie subsidised or unsubsidised), the amount to be disbursed, and the option to either accept or decline some or all of the funds. The obligation to repay any loan fund will be explained. The student will have 14 days to respond. If no response is received in the given timeframe the disbursement will be cancelled.

Where no response is received within 14 days, but the student is able to provide evidence of extenuating circumstances preventing them from responding in the given timeframe, Goldsmiths will consider the late response as long as it is submitted within 180 days of the date of withdrawal and before the end of the academic year.

Approved leave of absence

All students considering an interruption of study should refer to Goldsmiths US Direct Loans Approved Leave of Absence Policy and Tuition Fee Liability Policy.

If you have any questions regarding this, please contact financialaid (@gold.ac.uk).

Determining the date of withdrawal

All students wishing to withdraw from their programme must refer to Goldsmith’s Withdrawal and Reinstatement Procedures and Tuition Fee Liability Policy.

Students are expected to notify Goldsmiths of their intention to withdraw from studies by completing a withdrawal form, including an indication of their last attendance date. The content of the form will need to be approved by the relevant academic department and Registry Operations.

The official withdrawal date will be the student’s last date of attendance as signed off by the Academic Department and recorded in the school’s student record system, and tuition fees will be calculated accordingly. Goldsmiths will also report the withdrawal via the National Student Loan Database (NSLDS). For students on a tier 4 visa, the withdrawal is reported to UKVI within 10 days of the update being processed in the record system.

Their record will be updated, and the last date of attendance recorded in the Goldsmiths’ student record system. The same date will be used to calculate any outstanding fees for the relevant academic year and in conjunction with US Federal regulations, a calculation of Return to Title IV fund will be undertaken using the last date of attendance during the academic term.

Students who have stopped attending classes and have not followed the official interruption or withdrawal procedure of Goldsmiths are considered as being on a ‘unauthorised break’ from their studies. Unauthorised absence will trigger the process for unsatisfactory attendance under Goldsmiths Student Attendance Policy.The college will notify students where unauthorised absences have been recorded to remind them of the attendance requirements and to signpost sources of support. Unauthorised absence which exceeds 14 days may result in a reassessment of a student’s eligibility for Federal Aid and withdrawal.

US Department of Education regulations require schools to complete a R2T4 calculation when a student unofficially withdraws and return the funding to the US Department of Education’s G5 account. Goldsmiths will use the last day of attendance for that term to calculate R2T4.

Credit balance refund policy

On withdrawal of studies, a student’s tuition fee is adjusted in line with Goldsmiths Tuition Fee Liability and Refunds Policy. Where a student is funded by the US Department of Education a R2T4 calculation is run within 14 days of the date of withdrawal, and any unearned funds are returned to the US Department of Education’s G5 account. Credit balance refunds are put on hold until R2T4 is calculated. Once the unearned funds have been calculated Goldsmiths will advise the student of any earned Direct Loan funds that have not been disbursed.

Goldsmiths will advise on any outstanding fees owed or credit balances on account. Where there is a credit balance left on the student’s account following completion of the R2T4 calculation, a refund will be issued.