Federal aid is awarded to Northwest Technical Institute students under the assumption that the student will attend school for the entire period of the award. Federal regulation requires students who receive federal financial aid (Pell Grant) to go through a calculation to determine aid eligibility if he/she withdraws on or before completing 60% of the term. The office of financial aid will review the students file and complete the required calculation. 

The calculation, the Return to Title IV, is mandated by federal regulation which is based on aid awarded and institutional charges. The purpose of the calculation is to determine the amount of federal aid that a student earned for the actual time enrolled during the period for which the aid was awarded and disbursed. Students earn on a pro-rata until 60% of the term has passed. After 60% of the term has passed the student is considered to have earned 100% of their aid.  Since NWTI does not offer unsubsidized loans, subsidized loans, Perkins, PLUS Loan, or FSEOG; the Federal Pell Grant is the only federal aid that is returned for the Title IV programs. NWTI will return the amount of Title IV funds for which it is responsible no later than 45 days after the date of determination.    

To officially withdraw from NWTI, the student must meet with their instructor and complete the required Exit Form that is located in the Registrar’s office (room 217) within the administration building. The financial aid office prepares the Return to Title IV aid calculation based on the date of withdrawal on the Exit Form.

When students fail to complete the official withdrawal process and cease to participate in classes, this is often referred to as an unofficial withdrawal. The Return of Title IV calculation is ran at the end of the semester on all students who fail to complete any hours attempted. The instructor will enter the last date of attendance for all students into our student software. The financial aid office will run a last date of attendance report. Based on the last date of attendance report, a Return to Title IV calculation is processed as if the student withdrew at the 50% point of the term. These students are then notified of their eligibility and/or responsibilities of repayment by the Financial Aid Office. 

When processing the Return to Title IV calculation, the NWTI financial aid office follows the following steps: The financial aid office will determine the total amount of Title IV aid disbursed for the semester in which the student withdrew, plus the Tile IV aid that could have been disbursed for the semester in which the student withdrew. This calculation is decided by taking the number of calendar days completed by the student divided by the total number of calendar days in the semester in which the student withdrew (excluding any scheduled breaks of more than five days). If the students calculated percentage exceeds 60%, then the student has “earned” all of the Title IV aid for the enrollment period. If the students calculated percentage is fewer than 60%, the financial aid office will continue with the Title IV calculation. The financial aid office will take the percentage of Title IV aid earned, multiplied by the total amount of Title IV aid disbursed or that could have been disbursed for the term in which the student withdrew to get the Title IV aid that the student is eligible to receive. If the aid already disbursed equals the earned aid, no further action is required. If the aid already disbursed is greater than the earned aid, the difference must be returned to the appropriate Title IV program.    

Students are advised to visit with their instructor and financial aid advisor to discuss withdrawing to ensure an informed decision. 

The withdrawal date may be adjusted if the student attends an academic related event after withdrawing. Possible examples of academic related events are attending class, taking a test, attending a required lab or study session. Students will be notified by the Financial Aid Office of the amount of aid earned and the amount of aid that needs to be returned based on this calculation. The Financial Aid Office will adjust the financial aid award on the student account when necessary. The student will be notified through a letter and an alert on their student portal account (online student software system).

After the Return to Title IV financial aid is adjusted per the calculation, a balance may still be owed on institutional charges. The student accounts office will send an itemized bill to the student informing them of their balance.  It is the student’s responsibility to make arrangements with the student’s accounts office for any balance owed to NWTI.