Impacts of Withdrawing

Financial aid is awarded on the assumption that you will attend for the whole term. Leaving early means some of it has to go back. This page explains how much, what you will owe and what to do first.

DROPPING SOME COURSES IS DIFFERENT FROM DROPPING ALL OF THEM If you drop all of your courses, the return calculation on this page applies. If you drop only some of your courses, there is no return calculation, but your financial aid can still change. Talk with an advisor before dropping any class so you understand the impact first.

OFFICIAL WITHDRAWAL

You tell the university you are leaving, following the official withdrawal policy. Your withdrawal date is the day you started that process.

UNOFFICIAL WITHDRAWAL

You stop attending without telling anyone. All F grades, or a mix of F and W grades, counts as this. Your withdrawal date is the last day you did anything academic in any course.

If You Take Short Courses or Modules

Not finishing every scheduled day of a module counts as withdrawing, with two exceptions listed below.

If You Come Back Later in the Term

Returning to a later module in the same term means you are treated as never having stopped, and the calculation is reversed.

Attendance Has to Be Confirmed

Federal rules require that you actually started a course for its aid to count. If no course can be confirmed, all aid for the term is cancelled.

Module Exception: Days Completed

You complete modules covering at least 49% of the days in the payment period, with grades of A, B, C, D or P.

Module Exception: Credits Completed

You complete coursework equal to half-time enrollment, with those same grades.

THE LINE THAT DECIDES EVERYTHING

60% of the Term

Withdraw before that point and you repay part of your federal aid. Withdraw after it and you keep all of it.

BEFORE THE 60% POINT

You earn aid day by day. Complete 40% of the term and you earned 40% of your aid. The rest goes back.

The Bursar bills your account for what is owed. We return the money to the federal programs within 45 days of determining that you withdrew.

AFTER THE 60% POINT

You have earned 100% of your federal aid for that term. Nothing is returned, and there is no repayment from the federal calculation.

HOW THE PERCENTAGE IS CALCULATED Days completed, divided by days in the term. Days completed run from the first day of your enrollment period to your withdrawal date. Scheduled breaks of five days or more, such as fall or spring break, are skipped.

Federal rules set this order, not the university. Loans go back before grants. That is usually good news, since returned loan money is money you no longer owe a lender.

1 Unsubsidized Direct Loans

2 Subsidized Direct Loans

3 Direct PLUS Loans

4 Federal Pell Grant

5 Federal Supplemental Educational Opportunity Grant

Work-Study Is Handled Separately

It is reduced to what you actually earned in the current term, and in previous terms if that applies.

Returns Happen Within 45 Days

All returns of federal aid are completed no later than 45 calendar days after we determine that you withdrew.

You might start withdrawing before your aid has paid out. In that case we run the same calculation using what could have been disbursed, and you may still be owed money. Both kinds require you to reply.

GRANTS YOU EARNED

If the calculation shows you earned Pell, FSEOG or TEACH Grant funds that had not been disbursed, we write to you about it.

You confirm whether you want all of it, part of it or none.

LOAN FUNDS YOU EARNED

If you earned Unsubsidized, Subsidized or Direct PLUS funds that had not been disbursed, the borrower is notified in writing.

The borrower confirms whether to accept all of it or part of it. This is borrowed money, so accepting means repaying it later.

NOT REPLYING MEANS LOSING IT

Our letter gives you a deadline. If you do not reply by then, the funds are cancelled and cannot be reinstated. Watch your mail and your CU email after you withdraw.

Withdrawing is a process with a required signature from our office. Doing it in this order protects you from surprises.

Talk to Us First

Before you withdraw, meet with a financial aid advisor to find out what you will owe. Ask about your Satisfactory Academic Progress (SAP) standing too: SAP is the standard you have to keep meeting to stay eligible for aid, and withdrawn courses count against it.

Email an Advisor

Tell Your Program

Notify your school or program that you are withdrawing.

Complete the Registrar's Form

Fill out the withdrawal form for your program, then bring it back to us for a financial aid advisor's signature. The form is not complete without it.

Watch for Our Letter

We write to you with the amount you owe the university. That letter is how you learn the final number.

WITHDRAWING IN FALL CANCELS YOUR SPRING AID

If you withdraw during the fall semester, your spring aid is cancelled. To have it re-awarded you have to tell us you intend to enroll in the spring. Grant funding you were originally offered may no longer be available by then, so tell us as early as you can.

Financial aid and tuition are two separate calculations. Returning aid does not remove the tuition charge, and a tuition refund does not go straight to you.

THE 10-DAY WINDOW

Tuition and fees adjust in full for drops and adds through the first 10 days of classes. After the 10th day there are no refunds for dropping, and adding a course still adds charges.

Read the Registrar's policy for the full rules.

IF YOU WERE CHARGED IN ERROR

Believe you dropped a class but were charged anyway? Contact your school's Admissions or Student Affairs office to file a formal appeal. If they agree the circumstances justify it, they work with the Registrar to drop you from the class.

Tuition Appeals Are Program by Program

If an extenuating circumstance justifies an exception to your financial obligations, contact your program to ask whether it has a tuition appeals policy and what it involves.

A Refund Repays Aid First

If you are granted a tuition and fee refund, all or part of it repays your financial aid. Whatever is left is released to you, and you still owe any remaining charges on your account.

Dropping Everything Is a Withdrawal

Dropping all your classes for a term counts as withdrawing, whether or not you formally withdraw from the university.

TUITION QUESTIONS GO TO THE REGISTRAR Call 303-724-8000 or email [email protected]. Our office handles financial aid; the Registrar handles tuition and fees.

Your loans enter their grace period when you withdraw. If you are not enrolled again by the end of it, repayment starts. Exit counseling tells you your rights and your repayment options, and you complete it separately for each kind of loan you borrowed.

FEDERAL LOANS

You complete this counseling online with the federal government. It covers:

Direct Subsidized Loans Direct Unsubsidized Loans Direct Grad PLUS Loans Direct Parent PLUS Loans

Complete It at StudentAid.gov

INSTITUTIONAL LOANS

You complete this counseling with the university rather than the federal government. It covers:

Federal Nursing Loan Health Professions Student Loan Loan for Disadvantaged Students Medical Center Loan Medical Student Loan Nurse Faculty Loan Program

Go to Student Debt Management

BORROWED FROM BOTH? DO BOTH Federal and institutional loans are counseled separately. Completing one does not satisfy the other. See Loan Requirements for what each one covers.

A withdrawal follows you into future terms because of Satisfactory Academic Progress (SAP), the standard you have to keep meeting to stay eligible for aid. After every term we check your grades and how many of your attempted credits you completed, and withdrawing changes those numbers, so the effects can show up long after the term you left.

Withdrawn Credits Count as Attempted

They count toward your attempted credits without counting as completed, so a withdrawal lowers your completion rate even though it carries no grade points.

A Low Completion Rate Risks Your Aid

Fall below the standard and you go on financial aid warning for one term, with aid still paying. Still short after that and aid is suspended until a successful appeal or you earn your way back.

The Credit Limit Still Counts Them

Withdrawn credits still count toward the 150% limit on total attempted credits for your program, so they use up room to finish with aid.

Read the Satisfactory Academic Progress Policy

What Now?

Start With the FAFSA Eligibility only matters once you have applied. One form starts everything. Know Your Costs Your cost of attendance sets the ceiling on how much aid you can receive. See Your Aid Options Grants, scholarships, work-study and loans, and how they differ. Colorado Aid Options State grants, the COF stipend and work-study open to Colorado residents. Look for Scholarships Many awards are made just for veterans, service members and dependents. Dropping a Class? Withdrawals count against your completion rate and can mean paying aid back. Check Academic Progress The GPA and completion standards you have to keep meeting to hold your aid. Something Changed? Lost income, a change at home or unusual costs can all be reviewed.

Tools & Resources

CU Campuses

CU Anschutz

Student Finances

Financial Aid

Impacts of Withdrawing

What Now?

Financial Aid & Scholarships Office

Impacts of Withdrawing

Withdrawing and Your Aid

Withdrawal Topics

What Counts as Withdrawing

How Much Aid You Can Keep

Which Aid Goes Back First

Money You Haven't Received Yet

How to Withdraw

Tuition Refunds & Appeals

Exit Counseling

What Happens to Future Financial Aid

What Now?

Financial Aid & Scholarships Office