Add/Drop & Withdrawal Consequences

Note: We strongly advise you to consider the following before changing your schedule or status. You must see your Academic Advisor and officially change your Individual Education Plan before any adjustments will be made to your financial aid award.

WHAT HAPPENS IF…

…you drop part of your credit hours:

• all or part of your financial aid may be reduced or canceled;
• you will enter repayment if you are less than half-time when your grace period expires (grace period is 6 months after the date your dropped below half-time);
• your future eligibility for financial aid may be jeopardized if you do not meet the Satisfactory Academic Progress (SAP) requirements for Financial Aid or maintain Good Academic Standing as defined in the Catalog;
• your credit report may be adversely affected if any late payments are reported on balances due from your changes; and may cause higher loan debt aggregates and increase your interest and repayment period.

…you drop all of your credit hours and withdraw from the program:

• you may be required to repay all or part of the financial aid disbursed for the term in which you withdraw if you don't complete more than 60% of the term;
• you will have to repay any unearned financial aid you have received according to the Return of Title IV Funds guidelines;

… you change from Masters to Psy.D. or Psy.D. to Masters status:

• If you are approved to change enrollment from Psy.D. to Master's status, your loans will be reduced by the amount of your loans which are designated as Psy.D.
• If you are approved to change enrollment from Master's to Psy.D., you may request a change form to assess what additional unsubsidized loans for which you are eligible.

…you need to take a leave of absence:

• There is no such thing as a financial aid leave of absence. At the time you are approved for an academic leave, you will immediately be classified as less than part-time and enter the 6-month grace period for any Subsidized or Unsubsidized loans.
• If you will be on academic leave more than the 6-month grace period, you will need to submit a request for Economic Hardship Deferment or Forbearance with your lender during your fifth month to avoid entering repayment or losing your next grace period.

Award Adjustments

Forest Institute of Professional Psychology will follow the refund policy of The U.S. Department of Education for federal financial aid programs. When a student withdraws from or stops attending all classes in the first 60% of a term, federal regulations require that the college calculate the percentage and amount of federal financial aid the student did not "earn” by their attendance and return those funds to the federal programs. Software provided by the Department of Education will be used to determine the calculations for earned and unearned Title IV eligibility. For example, if a student withdraws after attending only 30% of the term, then that student is only entitled to 30% of his federal financial aid. Students who attend classes after the 60% point in the term are considered to have earned all federal funds.

If a student received more federal financial aid than the amount earned, Forest Institute is required to return the unearned funds to the U. S. Department of Education. Students need to be aware that if their unearned federal assistance was used to pay tuition, fees, and miscellaneous charges, they may now owe the Institute for the portion of the charges that were previously covered by the unearned portion of their federal financial aid.

Students who owe an outstanding balance to the U.S. Department of Education will be notified of any outstanding balances owed within 30 days of the date that they withdrew from all of their classes, or 30 days from the date the Institute learned that they were not attending all of their classes. The students will then have 45 days to repay the overpayments or to reach satisfactory repayment arrangements with the Institute or the U.S. Department of Education. If a student does not repay the overpayment or make satisfactory arrangements within the 45 days, he/she will be considered to have a federal financial aid overawed, and the student's account will be referred to the U.S. Department of Education for collection. Students will not be eligible for federal financial aid at any educational institution until the overawed has been cleared.

1. the date the student initiated the official withdrawal process set forth in the academic catalog (the date the student officially notified the Registrar's office of his/her intent to withdraw);
2. the midpoint of the semester if the student withdraws without notifying the institute; or
3. the student's last date of attendance at an academically related activity as documented by the Institute.