2004-2005 Financial Aid

Withdrawal Information

For information on Villanova Law School’s withdrawal policy, JD students should see the Villanova University School of Law Student Handbook and Graduate Tax students should see the Graduate Tax Program brochure. Students contemplating withdrawing from either program should contact either the Associate Dean for Academic Affairs (JD students) or the Director of the Graduate Tax Program (graduate tax students) in addition to the Office of Financial Aid.

Financial Aid Students

Return of Title IV Funds Policy

When a student who has received Title IV aid such as a Subsidized or Unsubsidized Federal Stafford Loan or Federal Perkins Loan withdraws from the law school, the institution must determine the amount of aid that has been earned as of the date of withdrawal. Earned aid may have been used to pay for institutional charges such as tuition and fees or non-institutional costs such as books and living expenses. Title IV aid that is considered unearned aid must be returned to the appropriate programs.

If the student has completed more than 60% of the semester, he is considered to have earned 100% of his Title IV aid for that term and therefore there is no unearned aid that must be returned to the Title IV programs. If the student has completed 60% or less of the semester, then the amount of aid that has been earned must be determined and any unearned aid must be returned to the Title IV programs. All awarded aid for which the student established eligibility as of the withdrawal date and which may be disbursed after the student's withdrawal is considered to be earned aid. However, a student can never receive as a post-withdrawal disbursement, funds from a second or subsequent Federal Stafford Loan disbursement that the institution was prohibited from making to the student on or before the date of the student's withdrawal.

If the student completes 60% or less of the semester and if the amount of aid received is larger than the amount of aid earned, the difference must be returned to the Title IV programs in the following order:

1. Unsubsidized Federal Stafford Loan Program
    
2. Subsidized Federal Stafford Loan Program
    
3. Federal Perkins Loan
    
4. Other grant or loan assistance authorized by Title IV of the HEA.

If Title IV funds do not exceed institutional charges, then the institution must return the unearned funds. If Title IV funds exceed institutional charges then the responsibility to return the unearned portion is divided between the institution and the student because both hold some portion of the Title IV funds. Any amount owed by the student to a grant program is reduced by 50%. If the student is required to return funds to a loan program, that money is repaid under the terms and conditions of the promissory note.

For further information on this policy and for examples of how the return of Title IV funds is calculated, please come to the Office of Financial Aid in Room 47, email finaid@law.villanova.edu or call 1-610-519-7015.

Refunds of Other Aid

For aid other than Title IV aid (such as an alternative loan), the calculation of how much aid has been earned and how much aid must be returned to the various programs is the same as described above for Title IV aid.

Non-Financial Aid Students

Students who are not recipients of any type of financial aid and who withdraw from the law school have their refunds calculated the same way as students with financial aid. The institution must determine what percent of tuition has been earned as of the date of withdrawal. Any tuition that is considered to be unearned must be returned to the student. If a student has completed more than 60% of the semester, the student is considered to have earned 100% of his tuition for that term and therefore no tuition will be refunded.

For further information on this policy and for examples of how the return of Title IV funds is calculated, please come to the Office of Financial Aid in Room 47, email finaid@law.villanova.edu or call 1-610-519-7015.

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