Withdrawing and Your Financial Aid
- Don't Leave School without Officially Withdrawing
- Effects of Withdrawing on Your CARS Account
- Returning to Berkeley
Other Considerations: International Students, Loans, Cal Grants, Work-Study, Graduate Fellowships
Students sometimes find that they need to withdraw from school. This
may be due to illness, family emergency, or just the need to take a break
from school. If you leave school after the term begins this is considered
a withdrawal. (If you cancel your registration for a term before the
term begins, you are not eligible to receive any financial aid for that
term.) Whatever the reason, if you are considering withdrawal, you must
first discuss your decision with a student academic advisor in your college
or department. They can direct you to resources that are available, such
as health services, tutoring, or counseling, and guide you through the
withdrawal process.
Financial Aid Recipients who withdraw may no longer be eligible for all
of the financial aid they have received. If you are a financial aid recipient
and withdraw you should expect to pay back part of your financial aid. Your CARS account will be billed for this amount.
IF YOU WITHDRAW AND YOUR
LAST DAY OF ATTENDANCE IN CLASS(ES) IS AFTER THE 60% POINT OF THE SEMESTER
(DATE Fall: November 4, 2007; Spring: April 7, 2008) YOU WILL KEEP
ALL OF YOUR FINANCIAL AID.
If you are an UNDERGRADUATE student, you must see
an advisor at your college or school, (for example, Letters & Science),
for approval of your withdrawal. If you are a GRADUATE student, you must go to the
graduate office of your department for approval of your withdrawal. You
cannot withdraw from school by notifying a Financial Aid Counselor, though
you are encouraged to see a counselor if you wish to discuss the impact
of withdrawing on your financial aid. If you are withdrawing for medical
reasons, in addition to your advisor at your college or school, you must
contact the University Health Service or call 642-2074.
Once you file your petition for withdrawal, you will have 10 days to
rescind your decision before your CARS account is affected. You may,
however, request immediate processing of your withdrawal. If you withdraw
before all your aid has paid, you may be eligible for disbursement of
some additional aid. The Financial Aid Office will notify you if you
are eligible for an additional disbursement.
IMPORTANT WARNING: Your
semesters of financial aid eligibility are limited. When you withdraw
you use up one semester of eligibility!
| Undergraduate | PH. D. | M.A. | LAW | Optometry | |
| Semesters of Eligibility | 10 if entering as a freshman; 6 if entering as a junior | 18 | 6 | 8 | 10 |
DO NOT LEAVE SCHOOL WITHOUT OFFICIALLY WITHDRAWING
If you stop attending your classes and do not withdraw,
your grades will remain on your academic record. In addition, if
you "walk
away" and do not pass any of your classes, your financial aid
will be reduced as if you had left halfway through the term, even
though your grades will remain. You must withdraw officially from
the University to avoid this situation.
EFFECT OF WITHDRAWING ON YOUR CARS ACCOUNT
When you withdraw from school, your CARS account may be adjusted in
two ways:
1. You may receive a partial refund of your fees
2. You may need to pay back financial aid that you have already received.
FEE REFUNDS FROM UC BERKELEY
The Office of the Registrar may adjust your fees based on the date
you withdraw and credit the reduction to your CARS account. See the Registrar's web site for the dates and corresponding fee reductions.
NOTE: All refunds are subject to review by the University -- any outstanding
debts will be withheld from the refund.
FINANCIAL AID PAID BACK BY STUDENT
Some of the financial aid paid to you directly will most likely need
to be returned to the school. This amount, calculated in accordance
with federal regulations, is the amount you received for the days you
did not attend school -- the remaining days in the semester after your
withdrawal. Your withdrawal date is determined by your last date of
class attendance.
UC Berkeley uses the Federal Formula required for Title IV aid recipients
(Pell Grants, ACG, National SMART, Supplemental Educational Opportunity
Grants, Direct Loans, Parent Loans for Undergraduate Students, Perkins
Loans) to determine the amount of all forms of aid a student must return
including Cal Grants and Scholarships.
The percentage of aid to be repaid (excluding books and insurance fees)
is based on the percentage of the total days in the semester that are remaining
after your last date of attendance. For instance, if you received $2000 in
financial aid and withdraw when the semester is exactly 50% over, you
will need to repay $1000.
However, only 50% of grant aid in excess of your fees is repayable,
and loans in excess of your fees are not charged to CARS, but are repayable
under the original terms of the loan. You are encouraged to see a Financial
Aid Counselor to get an estimate of the amount of aid you will be expected
to repay.
Your Cal Grant award cannot be higher than the actual Education & Registration fees you were charged.
EXAMPLE
Suppose you are a continuing student and your fees are $3,900 and
you receive loans for $3000 and grants for $6000. If you withdraw
and your last day of attending classes is at the 50% point (10/23/06
for Fall 2006) of the semester:
- .You will have earned 50% of your aid or $4,500, the unearned portion of your aid is also 50% or $4,500.
- 50% of your originally charged fees is $1,950 and this much of your net loans ( $1,980 gross) will be reduced.
- The rest of your loans or $1,020 will go into repayment. You should complete an online Loan Exit Counseling Session.
- This totals $3,000, so there is still $1,500 of unearned aid remaining($4,500-$3,000).
- BUT, $1,500 is less than 50% of your original grants (50% of $6,000 = $3000) so you will not have to repay this $1,500.
- You will therefore owe a total of $1,980 (the loans from above) which you will repay to UC Berkeley.
RETURNING TO BERKELEY
If you wish to enroll for a future term, you must file an APPLICATION
FOR READMISSION by the appropriate deadline. Readmission
forms for Undergraduate students are available at the college Dean’s
Offices, at the Office of Undergraduate Admission, 103 Sproul Hall
or online.
Readmission forms for graduate students are available at the Graduate
Division 302 Sproul Hall or online on the Registrar's forms page.
Be sure to meet the FINANCIAL AID APPLICATION of March 2 deadline for the academic
year you plan to return.