Office of Student Financial Aid

Return of Title IV Funds

Those who receive federal Title IV financial aid must comply with UToledo’s participation policy.

The federal government requires that the University of Toledo review your eligibility for that aid if you withdraw — either officially or unofficially — on or before completing 60% of the semester.

Federal Title IV funds include:

  • Federal Pell Grant
  • Federal Stafford Loan
  • Federal PLUS Loan
  • Federal Supplemental Educational Opportunity Grant (SEOG)
  • Teacher education Assistance for College and Higher Education Grant (TEACH)
  • Iraq Afghanistan Service Grant

What happens if I withdraw?

If you stop attending class, the financial aid office will apply a federally mandated formula to determine how much of your federal funding was earned up to the time of withdrawal. The percentage of earned aid is calculated by dividing the number of completed calendar days by the number of calendar days in the semester, including weekends and holidays and excluding any scheduled breaks longer than five days. This review and recalculation is called Return of Title IV Funds.

You or the University must return to the federal government any Title IV funds that were given to you in excess of the earned amount.

If you received a refund from financial aid, which was to be used for education-related personal expenses or non-university housing expenses, you may be required to return a portion of those funds to the University.

If, after the calculation you have a title IV credit balance, we will return the funds to you as soon as possible and no later than 14 days.

After the calculation the University will return their portion but if the calculation results in an amount that needs to be returned that exceeds UToledo’s portion, you will be required to repay some funds. Your portion of the outstanding loans are repaid by you according to the terms of your promissory note. Title IV Grant funds are repaid if the amount by which the original payment exceeds 50% of the total Title IV grant funds disbursed or could have been disbursed to you for the semester.  If the amount is less than $50.00, you are not responsible for returning the funds to the Title IV grant programs.

Title IV funds that were disbursed in excess of the earned amount must be returned by the University and/or the student to the federal government within 45 days of your withdrawal.

Funds will be returned to the government in this order:

  1. Unsubsidized Stafford Loans
  2. Subsidized Stafford Loans
  3. PLUS loans
  4. Federal PELL Grant
  5. Iraq Afghanistan Service Grant
  6. Federal Supplemental Educational Opportunity Grant (SEOG)
  7. Teacher education Assistance for College and Higher Education Grant (TEACH)

what is a Post-Withdrawal Disbursement?

If you earned more federal financial aid than was disbursed (or paid) to you prior to withdrawing, you may be eligible for a post-withdrawal disbursement (a refund).

Refunds are issued within 14 days if you have a credit on your account after we have finished the Return of Title IV Funds process.

Loan funds

If the post-withdrawal disbursement includes loan funds, within 30 days of the date UToledo has determined that you have withdrawn, we must get your permission before we it can disburse the loan. You may choose to decline some or all of the loan funds so as not to incur additional debt. A notification will be sent out to you or your parent in the case of PLUS loan, if you or your parent are eligible for a post-withdrawal disbursement that includes loan funds. You must return the signed, original document to the Financial Aid office within 14 days. If we do not receive a response, the aid will be returned to the title IV program(s).

Grant funds

The University of Toledo may automatically use all or a portion of the post-withdrawal disbursement of grant funds to pay remaining tuition and fees. Any portion of the grant funds not credited to your account to cover allowable charges will be disbursed to you as soon as possible but no later than 45 days after the University determined you withdrew.

We need your permission to use the grant funds to pay other remaining school charges (parking, legal fees, etc.). We recommend you complete a Title IV Authorization to allow us to pay down those fees and reduce your debt to the University.

Go to myUT → Student tab → My Accounts → Title IV Consent

If you don’t authorize us to use your funds in this way, we will send you a refund.

IMPORTANT NOTE: Accepting a post-withdrawal disbursement of student loan funds will increase your overall student loan debt that must be repaid. Accepting the disbursement of grant funds will reduce the remaining amount of grant funds available to you in future semesters.


How is my withdrawal date determined?

The amount of financial aid that needs to be returned to the federal government will be calculated using the date you officially withdrew from classes.

If you withdraw unofficially, we use the last date you were involved in an academic activity. An unofficial withdrawal is when you stop attending classes, but don’t withdraw from those classes or notify the University.

The University of Toledo does not have a formal leave of absence policy that meets the Department of Education's guidelines.

Have Questions?

Ask Rocket Solution Central.

Rocket Solution Central — or RSC — is your one-stop answer shop for financial aid questions.

Call 419.530.8700
Monday - Wednesday and Friday 8:30 a.m. - 4:45 p.m.
Thursday 10 a.m. - 4:45 p.m.
Visit 1200 Rocket Hall
Monday - Friday 8:30 a.m. - 5 p.m.

No need to wait in line. Register through Rocket Q ahead of time or when you arrive. You'll receive wait-time updates and be notified when it's your turn.

Register by texting "University of Toledo" to 419.419.3430 or by entering your information online.

Financial Wellness

We could all use some help managing our money ― whether you’re a high school student, undergraduate or upperclassman ready to graduate.

UToledo's financial wellness team offers workshops, presentations and tools to help you improve your money management skills. You can even schedule an appointment with our counselor to discuss your personal financial plan.

  • How to pay for college
  • Managing student loans
  • Making a budget
  • And more
Financial Wellness Services
Last Updated: 4/19/23