Return of Title IV Funds Policy

When a recipient of U. S. Department of Education federal financial aid Title IV funds withdraws from SDSU during the of the enrollment period in which the recipient began attendance, the amount of the Title IV funds (not including Federal Work Study) that the student earned is calculated as of the student's withdrawal date. 

1. Title IV funds are earned at a fixed rate on a per day basis up to the 60% point in the enrollment period. Title IV funds are 100% earned after the 60% point in that period.

If the date a student withdraws from South Dakota State University is prior to or on the 60% point of the semester, the University is required to determine what portion of the aid disbursed was "earned" by the student. The "earned" amount will be based on the percentage of the semester that has elapsed based on the date the student started the withdrawal process. The “unearned” Title IV funds must be returned to the respective aid programs. Unearned aid is the amount of disbursed Title IV aid that exceeds the amount of Title IV aid based on attendance in the enrollment period.

Students who fail to contact the University when they stop attending classes and the student is assigned an “F” grade for all courses for the semester, the Return to Title IV Funds policy requires SDSU to calculate the "earned" amount based on the 50% point of the semester. Unearned aid must be returned as described above. If a student was disbursed aid after the 50% point of the semester, the student is assumed ineligible for those funds and will be required to return those funds.

2. In accordance with federal regulations, if you are eligible for a refund of tuition and fees and SDSU housing/food service and you are a Title IV aid recipient for the period, the refund will be returned to the student aid programs in accordance with Return of Title IV Funds policy and SDSU policy. The Return of Title IV Funds received by the student are allocated in the following order:

Unsubsidized FFEL Loans
Subsidized FFEL loans
Federal Perkins Loans
FFEL PLUS Loans
Federal Pell Grants
Academic Competitiveness Grant
SMART Grant
Federal SEOG
Other Title IV Assistance
Other Federal Sources of aid
Other State, Private and Institutional Aid

3. Institutional and student responsibilities concerning the return of Title IV funds:

South Dakota State University responsibility in regard to the Return of Title IV funds include: providing each student with information given in this policy; identifying students who are affected by this policy and completing the Return of Title IV Funds calculation for those students; and returning any Title IV funds that are due the Title IV programs.

4. The student is responsible to repay any Title IV funds that the student was determined to be ineligible for via the Return to Title IV funds calculation.

Please contact the SDSU Financial Aid Office in the Administration Building 106 or calling 605.688.4696 or email to financialaid@sdstate.edu  if you have any questions.