The Office of Financial Aid and Scholarships (OFAS) is required by Federal and State regulatory agencies to ensure that Washington State University students have easy access to important information involving campus safety, equity in athletics, financial aid, graduation/retention rates and other required information. If you should have any question or concerns regarding the information listed here, the Office of Financial Aid and Scholarships can assist students in retrieving the most accurate and current information.
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Financial Aid Recipient Rights and Responsibilities
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Important Information
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Canceling Enrollment
Student Rights
As a student receiving financial aid at Washington State University, you have the following rights:
- You may decline all or any part of your financial aid award. This must be done in writing.
- You may be able to return loan proceeds within 14 days of the date of disbursement. The remaining balance on your student account must be institutional charges to be able to return loan proceeds.
- You will be notified in writing of any changes made by the OFAS to your financial aid eligibility and/or your awards.
- You may request review of your financial aid application due to special or unusual circumstances that would change the Expected Family Contribution and/or the Cost of Attendance. All such requests should be submitted in writing to the OFAS.
- You may request a re-evaluation of any decision (except from the Satisfactory Academic Progress Committee) concerning your financial aid award.
- In protection of your rights under the Family Education Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA), the staff at the OFAS cannot release specific information about your financial aid award to anyone over the telephone. You must present picture ID when seeking information in-person about your financial aid awards at the OFAS.
- Students have the right to contact the Federal Student Financial Aid Ombudsman to resolve issues related to student loans. The Federal Ombudsman phone number is 1-877-557-2575 and their web site is: http://www.ombudsman.ed.gov.
Student Responsibilities
As a student receiving financial aid at Washington State University, you have the following responsibilities:
- Be admitted by the Office of Admissions to a course of study leading to a degree or certificate.
- Report to the OFAS, in writing, any additional resources such as Veterans Education Benefits, scholarships, tuition waivers, and funding from outside agencies, etc.
- Confirm the awarded loan amounts on the Financial Aid Award Notifications and return one copy to the Office of Financial Aid and Scholarships if you wish to borrow.
- Maintain Satisfactory Academic Progress (SAP). Refer to the Satisfactory Academic Progress page for more information.
- Immediately inform Washington State University of any address changes through the myWSU student portal.
The safety of our students is a priority at Washington State University. This section offers the campus safety report, including crime rates, as well as tips to keep our students safe while they attend.
This section contains information specific to the student's rights and protections under the Federal Education Right to Privacy Act, as implemented by Washington State University.
Office of the Registrar - Notification of Student Rights under FERPA
Washington State University takes drug abuse prevention and education seriously. These links have information about programming opportunities, services available to students who find themselves in an abuse situation, as well as the repercussions of violating state and institutional drug and alcohol policies.
- This University database can be found here.
Policy for Aid Adjustments When Canceling Enrollment
Please note: rules for adjusting your student financial aid program funds when you withdraw are not the same rules that apply to the WSU tuition and fee refund policy.
For WSU’s tuition refund policy and the requirements and procedures for officially withdrawing from WSU may be found on the Registrar's web site located here.
Financial aid (federal/state/institutional/private) is awarded to you under the assumption that you will attend school for the entire term. When you withdraw, you may no longer be eligible for the full amount of funds that you originally were scheduled to receive. Canceling enrollment or dropping classes may have an impact on your academic progress. For information on Satisfactory Academic Progress policies please refer to our SAP web page located here.
The Official Worksheet for Return of Title IV funds (federal aid) is located here.
If as a recipient of federal financial aid funds you withdraw from school prior to the 60% point of the term, the amount of the financial aid you earned must be determined. All unearned federal aid, or a portion of the unearned federal aid, must be returned (canceled from your account). The earned and unearned aid is determined by a daily prorated ratio. Basically, if you canceled enrollment at the 20% point of the term, you earned 20% of the assistance you were originally scheduled to receive. Eighty percent of the amount of unearned federal aid, or a portion of the 80% of unearned aid will be returned (canceled from your account). Once you have completed more than 60% of the term, you have earned all the federal assistance that you were scheduled to receive.
The calculation for the amount of Federal financial aid to return (cancel from your aid) is based on the lesser amount of:
Institutional charges
Tuition
Mandatory fees
Special course fees
Housing charges (if you live on campus)
OR:
Federal Aid awarded
Unsubsidized Stafford Loan
Subsidized Stafford Loan
Perkins Loan
Parent or Grad PLUS Loan
Pell Grant
ACG or SMART Grant
Supplemental Education Opportunity Grants (SEOG)
TEACH Grant
The lesser amount of the institutional charges or federal aid awarded is then multiplied by a daily prorated ratio based on your certified date of withdrawal. The result is the amount of aid to be returned.
Example:
Institutional Charges
Full Time Tuition $3,800
Rec. Center Fee 144
Health Fee 130
Stadium Renovation Fee 25
Transit Fee 25
Special Course Fees 20
On Campus Housing 3,000
Total $7,144
Financial Aid Awarded
Sub Stafford Loan $2,750
Unsub Stafford 1,818
Perkins Loan 1,000
Pell Grant 2,155
SEOG 50
Total $7,773
Since the total institutional charges are less than the total financial aid awarded, the cancellation of aid will be calculated using the $7,144 because it is less than the Federal Aid Awarded of $7,773.
If your certified date of withdrawal is half way through the term, $7,144 would be multiplied by 0.500 to calculate $3,572 to cancel from your Federal Aid funds. Federal Financial aid funds must be returned in the following order:
1. Unsub Stafford Loan
2. Subsidized Stafford Loan
3. Perkins Loan
4. Parent or Grad PLUS Loan
5. Pell Grant
6. ACG or SMART Grant
7. Supplemental Education Opportunity Grants (SEOG)
8. TEACH Grant
For the example, the entire $1,818 Unsub Stafford Loan would be returned to the lender (canceled from your account) as well as $1,754 of the $2,750 Subsidized Stafford Loan. Therefore $1,818 + $1,754 = $3,572 is the amount of aid to be returned (canceled from your account).
If a charge is created after your account has been adjusted, WSU will send you a bill. If a credit results after all adjustments are made, your account will be credited for the difference. WSU will send a check or direct deposit the credit amount to your bank account.
You may be eligible for what is called a “post withdrawal disbursement”. This occurs if you were eligible to receive Federal Aid that was not disbursed to you prior to your withdrawal. If you are eligible for post withdrawal Federal Grant funds, those funds for which you were eligible will be credited to your account. If you are eligible for post withdrawal Federal Loan funds, you will have the opportunity to accept or reject a portion of those loans.
State Need Grant and Educational Opportunity Grant are prorated by the day and 50% of the unearned amount is canceled. If enrollment is canceled after the 50% point of the term, State Need Grant and Educational Opportunity Grant are considered 100% earned and no adjustment will be made to those types of aid.
All or a portion of Institutional Grants may be canceled without regard to the point in the term the cancel occurred.
Contact Scholarship Services to determine how a scholarship will be canceled.
To calculate the daily unearned prorate percentage, subtract from 1.000 the decimal you get when you divide the number of calendar days attended ( the beginning date of the term to your certified date of withdrawal) by the 108 total counted calendar days of fall or spring terms. Round to the 3rd decimal place. Both fall and spring terms are 108 calendar days in length. Nine days during week of Thanksgiving break during fall term and Spring break during spring term are excluded from the calendar day count for the term.
Example:
If the certified date of withdrawal is 20 calendar days after the beginning of the term, the calculation would be; 1.000 – (20 days completed / 108 total days in the term ) = .815 rounded. 81.5% of the term is was not attended.
During multiple summer sessions, the total days counted include the first day of the first session attended through the last day of the last session attended. For example, if the first session attended is 5/5 through 6/13, and the 2nd session attended is 6/16 through 7/25, the total days counted for the summer term is 82 days – 40 days for the first session plus 40 days for the second session with the 2 day week-end counted between sessions.
Financial aid funds are awarded under the assumption you will attend school for the entire term. If you unofficially withdraw (leave and do not properly provide official notification of withdrawal), you may no longer be eligible for the full amount of aid funds you were originally scheduled to receive.
Official Notification Not Provided
- One category of unofficial withdrawal happens you did not complete the withdrawal process or otherwise notify the school of the intent to withdraw due to illness, accident, grievous personal loss or other circumstances beyond your control. If the failure to properly withdraw is beyond your control, the withdrawal date is the date you no longer were able to attend class.
- A second category of unofficial withdrawals encompasses all other withdrawals where official notification is not provided to the school. For these withdrawals the withdrawal date is assumed to be the midpoint of the term.
Time Frame for the Determination of a Withdrawal Date for an Unofficial withdrawal
For Unofficial withdrawals, the withdrawal date is assumed to be the midpoint of the term. A school must process aid adjustments for unofficial withdrawals within 45 calendar days from the earlier of; (1) the end of the payment period or period of enrollment, (2) the end of the academic year, or (3) the end of the student’s educational program. 34CFR 668.22(j)(2)
At the end of each term, the Satisfactory Academic Progress (SAP) program will identify students (graduate or undergraduate) who did not successfully complete any courses. The Financial Aid Office will attempt to contact students who do not earn a passing grade in any course by mail and myWSU asking for verification from an instructor of the last date of attendance at an academically related activity. Acceptable proof of academically related activities include:
- Examinations or quizzes
- Tutorials
- Computer-assisted instruction
- Academic advising or counseling
- Academic conferences
- Completing an academic assignment, paper, or project
- Attending a study group required by the institution where attendance is taken
If no proof of attendance at an academically related activity is received, 100% of all aid will be canceled. If proof of attendance at an academically related activity is submitted with a date prior to the 60% point of the term, an unofficial withdrawal date at 50% point of the term will be assumed.
In addition to federal aid adjustments for unofficial withdrawals, 50% of State Need Grant and/or Equal Opportunity Grants will be canceled.