When a student is considered completely withdrawn from a semester, regulations specify how Drake University must determine the amount of federal student financial aid (Title IV aid) that was earned prior to withdrawal. The Title IV aid programs covered by this regulation follow, and are organized in the order that the funds will be returned, from first to last: Federal Direct Unsubsidized Loans, Federal Direct Subsidized Loans, Federal Direct PLUS Loans for Graduate Students, Federal Direct PLUS Loans for Parents, Federal Pell Grants, Federal Supplemental Opportunity Grants, Federal TEACH Grants, and Federal Iraq & Afghanistan Service Grants.
Though Title IV aid is posted to your account at the start of each semester, you earn the funds as you complete your scheduled enrollment. If you withdraw during your payment period (semester/term), the amount of Title IV program assistance that you have earned up to that point is determined by a specific formula. If you received (or Drake or a parent received on your behalf) less assistance than the amount that you earned, you may be able to receive those additional funds in the form of a post-withdrawal disbursement. If you received more assistance than you earned, the excess funds must be returned by Drake and/or you.
The amount of assistance that you have earned is determined on a pro rata basis. For example, if you completed 30% of your scheduled enrollment, you earn 30% of the assistance you were originally scheduled to receive. Once you have completed more than 60% of your scheduled enrollment, you earn all the assistance that you were scheduled to receive for that period.
If you are enrolled in courses that do not span the length of the semester (compressed courses), you are enrolled in courses that are offered in modules. Students who drop course(s) offered in modules will be considered completely withdrawn from the semester unless one of the following exemptions applies to the current semester:
If you did not receive all of the funds that you earned, you may be due a post-withdrawal disbursement. If your post-withdrawal disbursement includes loan funds, Drake must get your permission before it can disburse them. You may choose to decline some or all of the loan funds so that you don’t incur additional debt. Drake may automatically use all or a portion of your post-withdrawal disbursement of grant funds for tuition, fees, and room and board charges (as contracted with Drake). Drake needs your permission to use the post-withdrawal grant disbursement for all other institutional charges. If you do not give your permission, you will be offered the funds. However, it may be in your best interest to allow Drake to keep the funds to reduce your debt at Drake.
If you receive (or Drake or parent receive on your behalf) excess Title IV program funds that must be returned, Drake must return a portion of the excess funds equal to the lesser of:
Drake must return this amount even if it didn’t keep this amount of your Title IV program funds.
If Drake is not required to return all of the excess funds, you may be required to return the remaining amount.
For any loan funds that you must return, you (or your parent for a Direct PLUS Loan) will repay the loan funds in accordance with the terms of the promissory note. That is, you will not be required to repay any loan funds immediately, but instead, you will make scheduled payments to the holder of the loan over a period of time.
Any amount of unearned grant funds that you must return is called an overpayment. The maximum amount of a grant overpayment that you must repay is half of the grant funds you received or were scheduled to receive. You do not have to repay a grant overpayment if the original amount of the overpayment is $50 or less. You must make arrangements with Drake or the Department of Education to return the unearned grant funds.
The requirements for Title IV program funds when you withdraw are separate from any refund policy that Drake may have. Therefore, you may still owe funds to Drake to cover unpaid institutional charges. Drake may also charge you for any Title IV program funds that Drake was required to return. Drake’s Tuition Refund Policy can be found here. Requirements and procedures for officially withdrawing from course(s) are available here.
If you have questions about your Title IV program funds, you can call the Federal Student Aid Information Center at 1-800-4-FEDAID (1-800-433-3243). TTY users may call 1-800-730-8913. Information is also available on Student Aid on the Web at https://studentaid.gov.
The schedules below provide the percentage of Title IV/TA aid a student will have earned, based on the student’s last day of attendance. These schedules apply only to students who are not enrolled in compressed courses offered in modules. Students enrolled in modules must be reviewed individually based on the dates of their scheduled enrollment. Because most summer courses are compressed courses offered in modules, schedules are not provided for summer.
Law Students
Law Fall 2024 Percent of Aid Earned Schedule
Law Spring 2025 Percent of Aid Earned Schedule
Other Students (except P4)
Fall 2024 Percent of Aid Earned Schedule