Withdrawal Policy 

How Does Withdrawing Affect My Financial Aid?

1. As a student you must earn passing grades in all of your classes.  If you receive all “F” grades or a combination of all “F”, “W”, “Y”, or “Z” grades, for a semester, your aid eligibility will be recalculated at the end of that semester to the last date of attendance at an academically related activity as reported by the faculty teaching your classe(s).  When this occurs, the student may owe money on your LCCC student account even if the semester is over.  If you stop attending all of your classes during the term, you must officially withdraw by immediately completing a Withdrawal Request form and submitting the completed form to the Office of Registration/Student Records.
2. If the student withdraws completely from LCCC prior to the end of 60% of the semester (10 weeks), the student may owe the college a refund for some or all of his/her financial aid.  The Office of Financial Aid will calculate new financial aid eligibility based on the date of the student’s withdraw and return the amount the student has not “earned” through attendance to the U.S. Department of Education.  Until the money is repaid to the college, the student will not be able to register in any additional classes.  Students will be informed of any balance owing to the college by U.S. mail.  Students can also view balances by logging onto their student bill through the LCCC portal.
3. Students are required to successfully complete 67% of all attempted classes in order to continue to receive financial aid.  Receiving all nonpassing grades (F, W, Y, Z), repeating coursework or withdrawing from classes after they have begun will cause a student to be reviewed for unsatisfactory academic progress.  Students not making satisfactory academic progress ARE NOT eligible to receive financial aid.  LCCC’s academic progress policy can be found in the financial aid section of the LCCC web site.
4. If a student borrows under the Federal Direct Student Loan program and withdraws, he/she will go into repayment on that loan(s) six months after the withdrawal date.  A student will also go into repayment on any student loans he/she has borrowed six months after graduation or if the student drops to less than half time (6 credits).  A student will also be required to complete Exit Counseling at StudentLoans.gov.
5. Student financial aid is calculated for the fall and spring semester at the same time.  If the student withdraws from the fall semester, any financial aid including federal grants, state grants, student loans and student employment pending for the spring semester is canceled.

Withdrawal policy for students receiving financial aid

The Office of Financial Aid must be notified in writing or orally (if the student is unable to provide a written withdrawal notice) of the student’s intent to withdraw. A withdrawal notice is not official until it is received by the Office of Registration/Student Records.

If a student receives any type of financial aid (grants, scholarships, and loans) and officially withdraws completely from classes before the tenth week of class (60% of the semester), the student is required to have his/her financial aid prorated based on the U.S. Dept. of Education’s Federal Refund Policy. A student who falls under this criterion will have the appropriate percentage of his financial aid returned to the appropriate fund and is responsible to pay any balance remaining on the account as a result of the calculation. For example a student who totally withdraws within any of the following time periods depending on the actual day of withdrawal must have his/her financial aid prorated using the actual percentage of the amount of financial aid earned and the amount of time the student attended classes. For example: students withdrawing during the:

1. first week of class must have between 90% and 99% of financial aid returned
2. second week of class must have between 80% and 89% of financial aid returned
3. third week of class must have between 79% and 85% of financial aid returned
4. fourth week of class must have between 75% and 80% of financial aid returned
5. fifth week of class must have between 65% and 75% of financial aid returned
6. sixth week of class must have between 60% and 65% of financial aid returned
7. seventh week of class must have between 55% and 60% of financial aid returned
8. eighth week of class must have between 45% and 50% of financial aid returned
9. ninth week of class must have between 40% and 49% of financial aid returned
10. A student withdrawing during the tenth week depending on the exact day of withdrawal will not be subject to a withdrawal calculation and has earned all of his/her financial aid

Please note that students who withdraw during the refund period (week 1 – 100% refund of tuition only, week 2 – 50% of tuition only and week 3 – 25% of tuition only) must still have his/her financial aid prorated based on the number of weeks spent in class. The reduction of costs as a result of withdrawing during the refund period (week 1, 2 or 3) does not affect the percentage used to prorate financial aid or eliminate any balance that may be owed by the student as a result of withdrawing.

Funds are returned to the Title IV programs in the following order:
Unsubsidized Federal Stafford Loan
Subsidized Federal Stafford Loan
Federal PLUS Loan
Federal Pell Grant
Federal SEOG

Lehigh Carbon Community College is required to return the amount of Title IV funds for which it is responsible as soon as possible but not later than 45 days after the date of the institution’s determination that a student withdrew.

Students who have withdrawn and have borrowed through the Federal Direct Student Loan Programs (subsidized, unsubsidized or Plus) will have the amount of the loan which must be canceled as a result of the withdrawal of the student returned directly to the U. S. Department of Education. This return will reduce the principal amount of the loan that was originally borrowed by the student.

Unofficial withdrawals and students failing to earn a passing grade in any of their classes as of the end of the semester.

If a student who began attendance and has not officially withdrawn fails to earn a passing grade in at least one of his/her courses, the college must assume that the student has unofficially withdrawn. The college is required to use the student’s last reported date of attendance at an academically related activity to prorate and adjust the amount of financial aid the student received for the semester. The student is responsible to pay any balance remaining on his/her account as a result of this adjustment.

Office of Financial Aid – (610) 799-1133