Refund Policy

If a student leaves Muhlenberg College during a term, the College will provide a partial refund of tuition and fees according to the following terms:

Comprehensive Fee, Student Activity Fee, and Room Fee: Withdrawal before the first day of classes, 100 percent. Where voluntary withdrawal occurs, $200 of the comprehensive fee will be retained. In addition and in cases of suspension or expulsion, the College is entitled to a portion of the remaining comprehensive fee in accordance with the following schedule:

20 percent if withdrawal occurs during the first week;
40 percent if withdrawal occurs during the second week;
60 percent if withdrawal occurs during the third week;
80 percent if withdrawal occurs during the fourth week;
100 percent if withdrawal occurs after the fourth week.

Board Fee: In all cases of withdrawal, a refund of the contract portion of the board fee will be made in proportion to the number of unexpired full weeks remaining, provided the refund is applied for at the time of withdrawal from the College and the student meal plan is surrendered.

Flex dollars: Unused flex dollars will be refunded to a withdrawn student.

Room Fee: A student withdrawing from the College during the semester will receive a refund of room fees only if a replacement, not already residing in the College residential system, is obtained for the room.

The Financial Aid Office is required by federal statute to recalculate federal financial aid eligibility for students who withdraw, drop out, are dismissed, or take a leave of absence prior to completing 60% of a payment period or term. The federal Title IV financial aid programs must be recalculated in these situations.

If a student leaves the institution prior to completing 60% of a payment period or term, the financial aid office recalculates eligibility for Title IV funds. Recalculation is based on the percentage of earned aid using the following Federal Return of the Title IV funds formula:

Percentage of payment period or term completed = the number of days completed up to the withdrawal date divided by the total days in the payment period or term. (Any break of five days or more is not counted as part of the days in the term.) This percentage is also the percentage of earned aid.

Funds are returned to the appropriate federal program based on the percentage of unearned aid using the following formula:

Aid to be returned = (100% of the aid that could not be disbursed minus the percentage of earned aid) multiplied by the total amount of aid that could have been disbursed during the payment period or term.

If a student earned less aid than was disbursed, the institution would be required to return a portion of the funds and the student would be required to return a portion of the funds. Keep in mind that when Title IV funds are returned, the student borrower may owe a debit balance to the institution.

If a student earned more aid than was disbursed to him/her, the institution would owe the student a post-withdrawal disbursement which must be paid within 120 days of the student’s withdrawal.

The institution must return the amount of Title IV funds for which it is responsible no later than 30 days after the date of the determination of the date of the student’s withdrawal.

Refunds are allocated in the following order:

Unsubsidized Federal Stafford Loans
Subsidized Federal Stafford Loans
Unsubsidized Direct Stafford Loans (other than PLUS loans)
Subsidized Direct Stafford Loans
Federal Perkins Loans
Federal Parent (PLUS) Loans
Direct PLUS Loans
Federal Pell Grants for which a Return of funds is required
Federal Supplemental Opportunity Grants for which a Return of funds is required
Other assistance under this Title for which a Return of funds is required (e.g., LEAP)

Academic Progress Standards

All students are expected to maintain satisfactory academic progress defined as the minimum cumulative GPA shown in the chart, “Minimum Earned Requirements” below. Students who fall below these standards are reviewed by the Academic Progress Committee to determine academic standing and extenuating circumstances.

Eligibility for federal/state aid may also be affected by academic progress. Aid will be reinstated once the student has achieved satisfactory academic progress per APC and has submitted the required documents for financial aid consideration.

Appeals

Any student who has been denied financial aid may appeal the decision. Request for reconsideration must be submitted in writing to the director of financial aid and include supporting documentation. Reconsideration will be based on the merit of the appeal and is subject to availability of funds and a G.P.A. comparable to the all-College average.

Courses Attempted (includes transfer courses)	Minimum Graduation Units	Minimum GPA
4	3	1.2
8	6	1.4
13	10	1.7
17	14	2.0
20	17	2.0
25	21	2.0
29	25	2.0
34	30	2.0