According to the Department’s new SFA Handbook students who do not earn at least one passing grade per semester are considered to have withdrawn from school. For example: if a student attempts 3 courses, withdraws from one course with a “W” and earns “Fs” for the other two courses, or if he or she earns all “Fs” the Office of Financial Aid must assume that the student withdrew from school. The Office of Financial Aid is required to re-calculate their eligibility and remove some of the financial aid funds that were disbursed on their student account. In most cases, students will end up owing both South Texas College and the U.S. Department of Education hundreds of dollars.

For students in this situation, the only relief available is related to the date when they stopped coming to school. If the student participated in a verifiable academically-related activity past the 60% point of the semester (Fall 60% point was November 4, 2002 and the Spring 60% point is March 31, 2003) and proof of this can be collected, then the Office of Financial Aid does not have to perform the calculation. The Department of Education has defined acceptable academically-related activities as class attendance, examinations or quizzes, tutorials, computer-assisted instruction, academic advising or counseling, academic conferences, completing an academic assignment, paper, or project, or attending a school-assigned study group.

Students may not provide documentation of these activities, it must come from either an instructor or in the case of academic advising, the Office of Counseling and Advising.

Persons with questions related to this issue may contact the Office of Financial Aid at 872-3420

For more details on the Return of Title IV funds procedure, click here