Withdrawals and Refunds

If you withdraw from the university, you must officially begin the process with the Registrar’s Office. Simply stopping attendance in all classes is not sufficient; failure to complete an official withdrawal may result in being classified as an unofficial withdrawal.

For financial aid purposes, you may also be classified as withdrawn if you are enrolled in both short-term and full-semester courses but later drop the full-semester course after completing the short-term one. If this occurs, the Office of Student Financial Aid will be notified, and you may need to repay part or all of your financial aid in accordance with federal guidelines.

Undergraduate financial aid is based on enrollment in 12 or more credits per semester (6+ in summer), while graduate aid is based on 9 or more credits per semester (5+ in summer). If you drop below these thresholds during the drop/add period, your financial aid will be adjusted to reflect your final enrollment at the end of that period.

In most cases, dropping classes after the drop/add period will not affect your financial aid as long as you remain enrolled and began attendance. However, certain exceptions may apply. Contact the Office of Student Financial Aid before making changes to your course schedule. If you have taken out federal student loans, dropping below half-time enrollment (6 credits for undergraduates, 5 for graduates) will trigger the start of your six-month loan repayment grace period.

A student is considered unofficially withdrawn if they receive all F or U grades, stop attending classes, and do not complete any coursework by the 60% point of the term without officially withdrawing. In this case, students may be required to repay up to 50% of their financial aid for the term.

Students who never attended any classes and did not complete any coursework are required to repay 100% of the financial aid received for that semester or summer term.

Students who stop attending all of their classes are required to officially withdraw from the university. 

If you stop attending all of your classes, you are required to officially withdraw from the University.  If you decide to withdraw from the University, you must contact the Registrar’s Office to begin the official withdrawal process and establish your withdrawal date. If you stop attending all of your classes but fail to complete the official withdrawal process, you will be considered as an unofficial withdrawal. This policy applies to official and unofficial withdrawals. If you stop attending or never attend a class, you are required to officially drop the class. Dropping or never attending a class may affect your financial aid eligibility even if you do not withdraw from the university. Note that drops and withdrawals will likely affect your satisfactory 
academic progress. 

If you withdraw from the University, the Office of Student Financial Aid is required to calculate the amount of financial aid you have earned (known as “earned percentage”) and the amount that is unearned (known as “unearned  percentage”). The unearned portion must be returned to the appropriate financial aid programs according to federal regulations and institutional policy. 

If you withdraw on or before the 60% point of the term, a percentage of your financial aid will be calculated as earned and a percentage as unearned on a pro‐rata basis. Once you have attended for more than 60% of the term, you are considered to have earned all of your federal financial aid. You may still be required to return a portion of any North Carolina state grants. The Return of State Grants worksheet must be completed by the Office of Student Financial Aid to determine if any grant money must be returned. 

• View full Policy for the Return of Financial Aid Funds for Students Who Withdraw from the University