Disbursement Schedule for Federal Aid Funds
The Financial Aid staff will apply financial aid benefits toward the tuition and fees charged for those courses required by the recipients' programs of study. Students who register for courses not required in their programs of study will be responsible for paying with personal funds the tuition and associated fees charged for those non-required courses. The Financial Aid staff will remove HOPE and/or Title IV funds for any courses not required in students' programs of study. They remove the funds after the conclusion of the official Drop/Add period. The Financial Aid staff notifies students of the removal of financial aid funds via email at the students' @student.athenstech.edu email account.
The Financial Aid staff must verify student enrollment and attendance by the end of the second week of the academic term. The staff then has 14 days to prepare and distribute federal financial aid funds. Enrollment status at the point the Financial Aid staff disburse funds determines award amounts. Students who withdraw from all classes prior to the completion of 60 percent of the semester may be responsible for repaying some or all of the federal financial aid benefits they received for that academic term. The refund and repayment formulas established by the U.S. Department of Education determine the amount of aid returned. Detailed information on the return of Title IV funds is available on the college website.
Students receive refund checks if their Pell Grant, Federal Supplemental Educational Opportunity Grant, and/or HOPE-GED benefits exceed the amount owed for tuition, fees, and/or books. Students may go online via their BannerWeb account to authorize the college to use the excess federal financial aid funds to pay most fees, including late registration fees, instructional and technology fees, NLN testing fees, SAT testing fees, standardized health program placement examination testing fees, and graduation fees. The authorization allows the college to apply excess federal financial aid funds to cover fees for the entire period students are enrolled at the college. Students may change or modify an authorization online via their BannerWeb account at any time.
Students with a credit balance will have credit available from the Pell Grant and/or HOPE-GED at the college's bookstore to purchase required books and supplies prior to the first day of the term if the Financial Aid Office has authorized the disbursement of funds for the term. Students should verify that their federal financial aid benefits are sufficient to cover tuition, fees, and bookstore charges; otherwise, they run the risk of being administratively withdrawn from their classes because they owe money to the college at the Tuition/Fee Payment Deadline as listed in the Academic Calendar (see Academic Calendar).