Return of Title IV Financial Aid

Students who register for classes and subsequently decide to withdraw from the university after late registration must file applications to withdraw through their college.

A student who withdraws from the university may be eligible for a refund of a portion of the tuition, fees, and room and meals paid to Marquette for that term. If the student received financial assistance, a portion of the refund will be returned to the grant, scholarship or loan source from which that assistance was received.

A withdrawing student should complete the official form for withdrawal from all courses. This will enable Marquette to refund the maximum possible institutional charges. At that point, eligibility for federal financial aid will be determined based on several factors, including the last date of attendance as reported by the student’s college/school and the date the student initiates the withdrawal.

If a student ceases attendance (drops or withdraws) from all his or her Title IV eligible courses in a payment period, the student must be considered a withdrawal for federal financial aid purposes.

A student is considered withdrawn if the student does not complete all the days in the payment period that the student was scheduled to complete.

Three formulas exist for determining the amount of the refund: Marquette’s refund policy, state of Wisconsin grant refund policy and the federal "return of Title IV aid" formula derived from the 1998 Reauthorization of the Higher Education Act.

The federal formula requires a return of Title IV aid if the student withdrew on or before completing 60 percent of the term and received federal financial assistance in the form of a Federal Pell Grant, Iraq and Afghanistan Service Grant (IASG), Federal Supplemental Educational Opportunity Grant, Federal Direct Loan or PLUS/Grad PLUS Loan. The percentage of the refund is equal to the number of calendar days completed in the term divided by the number of calendar days in the term.

If a student withdraws after his/her financial aid was awarded, but prior to all aid having been disbursed, the unpaid aid will be included in the federal refund formula as aid that "could have been disbursed." If the refund calculation indicates that the student is still eligible for the undisbursed aid, the aid will be offered to the student via a post withdrawal disbursement, which will be sent to the student in a written statement.

Students not receiving federal aid will have their refunds calculated using Marquette’s refund policy and the state of Wisconsin grant refund policy, if applicable.

If any refund remains after the required return of Title IV aid, the refund will be used to repay Marquette funds, state funds, other private sources and the student in accordance with state regulations first and then in proportion to the amount paid by each non-federal source.

For purposes of repayment, if funds are released to a student because of a credit balance on the student’s account, the student may be required to repay some federal grants. Worksheets used to determine the amount of refund or repayment are available upon request.

The following example illustrates how the Marquette refund policy and federal policies work together.

Example:

A student withdrew on Thursday of the third week of classes in a 110-calendar-day term. Her charges of $5,000 were paid as follows: $1,200 Federal Direct Loan, $1,100 Federal Pell Grant, $2,000 Marquette scholarship and $700 paid by the student.

Under the federal return of Title IV aid policy, $1,200 would be returned to the Federal Direct Loan program and $732 would be returned to the Federal Pell Grant Program. Under Marquette’s refund policy (60 percent during the third week = $3,000 tuition refund), $791 would be returned to the Marquette scholarship fund and $277 would be returned to the student. In summary, of the $5,000 in institutional charges, $3,000 would be refunded as follows

Program Title IV $1,932
Marquette University $791
Student $277
Total $3,000

 A summary of the refund breakdown will be sent to the student’s home address.