Authorization procedures
The Financial Aid office adjusts students’ quarterly award amounts based on the enrollment level as of the financial aid census date. Students should contact the Financial Aid office for more information about the census dates for the current award year.
The following types of courses do not count toward enrollment level for financial aid: courses not needed to meet the student's MCC degree requirements, audit courses, CLEP courses, courses transferred in from another institution, dual enrollment courses, or courses that have been repeated more than once after the student received a grade of R, P, D, or better.
Credits for late-starting classes do not count toward a student's enrollment level for financial aid until: (1) the class has begun and (2) the instructor has reported that the student is participating in the class.
Award amounts are not adjusted after the appropriate census date for any increase or decrease in a student’s enrollment level. There are two exceptions to this policy:
- If a student completely withdraws from all classes, Title IV Return of Title IV regulations may require that a portion of a student’s aid be returned to the Department of Education by the institution and by the student. (See Return of Federal Funds for more information.)
- If a student drops a class that has not started and received a 100 percent refund, aid is reduced to reflect the new enrollment status.
Students should contact the Financial Aid office for more information, especially when adding or dropping classes.
Disbursement procedures
After all charges (e.g., tuition, books, and supplies) have been deducted from the total amount of the quarterly award, the Student Accounts office issues any remaining credit balance to the student and disburses it according to the student's indicated preference. Initial refunds are issued within two weeks from the census date. After the initial refund date, refunds occur weekly each Friday.
Return of federal funds
When students complete zero credits for a quarter, they may owe a repayment of a portion of their federal financial aid funds to the U.S. Department of Education, have an outstanding student account balance because MCC was also required to return funds, or both. Federal funds that may have to be returned are Federal Stafford and/or PLUS Loans, Federal Pell Grant, and FSEOG. The Nebraska Opportunity Grant, Board of Governors Tuition Grant, and Federal Work-Study are not affected by this requirement.
Students are considered to have completed zero credits when they formally withdraw from all of their classes (W grades) or informally withdraw from all of their classes by ceasing attendance. Students who receive a grade of F in a class are only considered to have completed the class if they attended past the 60% point of the quarter. Students who owe a repayment of federal financial aid are notified in writing.
For more information and examples of the return of federal funds calculations, contact the Financial Aid office.