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Withdrawals & Repayment Funds

Related Information

Withdrawals and Repayment of Financial Aid Funds

 

 

Federal Title IV aid is awarded to students under the assumption that they will attend school for the entire semester for which the aid was awarded. When a student withdraws, they may no longer be eligible for the full amount of aid that the student was originally scheduled to receive. Students receiving federal financial aid who withdraw from all of their classes during the first 60% of a term, may be required to repay a portion of the federal grants that they have received. That is because a student must "earn" their financial aid and federal aid is earned for each day you are enrolled and attending classes for a particular term.

For example, if you enroll in the Fall semester on August 20 and withdraw from all of your classes on October 22, you will have "earned" 63 days worth of financial aid eligibility. The amount you have to repay will depend on the number of days you were enrolled compared to the number of days in the semester. Because there are 121 days in the Fall semester, you would have only earned 52% of the aid you received (63 days/121 days in the term = 52%). If you had received a $1500 Pell Grant award for the semester, you would have only earned $780 of the Pell Grant ($1500 x 52% = $780). Because you have received $720 more financial aid than you "earned" ($1500 - $780 = $720), you may be required to repay half of the amount you did not earn. The amount you would be required to pay back in this case would be no more than $360.

Students who stay in classes until 60% of the term is completed won't owe anything back to the federal government. For the Fall of 2021, that means you must be enrolled and attending classes until October 27, 2021 to be eligible for all the financial aid you received. If you drop all of your classes before October 27, 2021 you may be billed for a portion of the Pell Grant, SEOG and/or Direct Loan that you received in the Fall. For the Spring of 2022, that means you must be enrolled and attending classes until April 20, 2022 to be eligible for all the financial aid you received. If you drop all of your classes before April 20, 2022 you may be billed for a portion of the Pell Grant, SEOG and/or Direct Loan that you received in the Spring.

Please note: If you fail all of your classes in a term, you will have only earned 50% of the Pell and/or SEOG that you received and you may be billed for the amount you did not earn. This rule applies even if you were enrolled in classes for the whole term.

If you are required to repay funds to the federal government, you will be billed and you will have 30 days to repay the funds in full. You may be ineligible for any further financial aid at any college in the United States until you have repaid the funds in full.

 

COVID-19 Repayment Procedures

Due to COVID-19 and the campus closure, the repayment process has been limited to mail-in services only.  Please follow the directions below to repay your overpayment: 

 

1. Make a check or money order out to Grossmont-Cuyamaca Community College District.

 

2. Include your Full Name, Student ID #, and write "Overpayment" on the front of your check or money order.

 

3. Attach your overpayment letter or email that was received to your payment.

 

4. Mail your payment to:

Grossmont-Cuyamaca Community College District

Attn: Lilian Keriakous, Accounting

8800 Grossmont College Drive

El Cajon, CA 92020

 

5. Once your payment has been received, you will be emailed an electronic copy of your receipt and your hold will be lifted.

 

 

 

 

I want to repay, now what?

 

If my letter says that I will have an institutional hold and I owe the school? 

  •                              
  • You can pay at the Cashier’s office or at the Financial Aid office
  • The acceptable payment methods are cash, check, and money order.
  • If you need to register for classes or cannot repay in full, contact Kirstyn Verdugo at Kirstyn_Verdugo@gcccd.edu 

 

If my letter says that I have 30 calendar days to repay?

 

  • You can pay at the Cahier’s office, Financial Aid office, or send a check to the Accounting office

  • The acceptable payment methods are cash, check, and money order if you repay at the Cashier’s office and/or at the Financial Aid office

  • Check is the only acceptable payment method that can be submitted to the Accounting office

  • The full amount needs to be repaid to Grossmont College within the 30 calendar days to avoid being reported to the Department of Education

    

                                                                                                                                                                       What happens if I get reported to the Department of Education?

 

  • Being reported to the U.S. Department of Education means that they will take over the overpayment and they will be contacting you.
  • If you wish to contact the U. S. Department of Education you can do so calling 1-800-621-3115. 

 

If I’m paying with a check or money order?

 

  • Checks made for repayment need to include the student’s name, address, and student ID number. If you are mailing a check make sure you are doing so to:
    Grossmont-Cuyamaca Community College District
    Attn:  Lilian Keriakous
    8800 Grossmont College Drive
    El Cajon, CA 92020
        

                                                                                                                                         

 

We are not responsible for checks that do not arrive to Grossmont-Cuyamaca Community College District.

 

Money orders made for repayment need to include the student’ name and student ID number.