Withdrawing from the University
If a student finds it necessary to completely withdraw from UMHB, student must start by contacting the Registrar’s Office. Student will then be directed to the appropriate departments to complete the official withdrawal process.
The federal government mandates that students who withdraw from all classes may only keep the financial aid they have “earned” up to the time of withdrawal. In addition, if a student fails to earn a passing grade in at least one class during the semester, the student is deemed by the U.S. Department of Education to have unofficially withdrawn. Title IV funds that were disbursed in excess of the earned amount must be returned by the University. This situation could result in the student owing aid funds to UMHB, government or both.
To determine the amount of aid the student has earned up to the time of withdrawal, the Bursar’s Office will do a Return of Title IV (R2T4) calculation which divides the number of calendar days the student attended classes by the total number of calendar days in the semester (less any scheduled breaks of 5 days or more). The resulting percentage is then multiplied by the total federal funds that were disbursed (either to the student’s university account or to the student directly by check or direct deposit) for the semester. This calculation determines the amount of aid earned by the student which he or she may keep (e.g., if the student attended 25% of the term, the student will have earned 25% of the aid disbursed). The unearned amount – total aid disbursed less the earned amount – must be returned to the federal or state government by UMHB or the student. The Bursar’s Office will notify and provide instructions to students who are required to return funds to the government.
If circumstances require that the student shouldwithdraw from all classes, the student is strongly encouraged to understand the financial impact before doing so. The Bursar’s Office can provide refund examples and further explain this policy and its impact on the student.
In addition to federal aid returns, a student may be required to repay institutional aid funds to UMHB, based on tuition refund percentage, i.e. Students receiving 80% tuition refund will repay 80% of the institutional aid.)
Students should also be aware that as a recipient of financial assistance, they must comply with the Satisfactory Academic Progress (SAP) Policy. By withdrawing, a student may not be eligible for financial assistance from UMHB in the future, because the student did not complete a specified number of credit hours for which aid was disbursed.