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The Ohio State University
Quick Links >> Hour Drops • Withdrawal • Summer Enrollment
Dropping classes or withdrawing may result in a reassessment of your university charges and/or a recalculation of your financial aid for the term. The exact consequences to you depend on a number of factors, including the type and amount of aid you have and the official date on which you drop classes or withdraw.
The consequences for each of these academic actions are different; therefore, each are addressed separately below.
Financial aid awards and the budgets or costs of attendance that correspond with the financial aid awards are based on the assumption students will enroll full-time during each term. Even though some students may not be enrolled full-time at the start of any given term, there are multiple opportunities for students to add/drop/change classes early on in a term to eventually settle at full-time enrollment.
If by the term’s census date, typically the 3rd week for summer semester and the 4th week for autumn and spring, a student is not enrolled full-time (either having been initially, then dropping or having never been enrolled full-time), adjustments will be made not only to financial aid received for the term in question but also to the budget or cost of attendance that corresponds with the financial aid offered in any given term. If changes are required, a student’s financial aid awards may be unavailable to view while adjustments are being made.
Most financial aid will not be adjusted for hour drops after the SFA Census date. All hours for which you are enrolled as of the fourth Saturday of the term or which you schedule thereafter, will be counted as “hours attempted” for determination of whether you are making Satisfactory Academic Progress for financial aid. Hours dropped after the refund period count as hours unsuccessfully completed.
Federal Work-Study Recipients: You will be ineligible to work at any point in the term you drop below half-time enrollment
The overall consequences of dropping courses depend on EACH of the following:
You could owe additional money to the university (which would be due immediately) or you could have additional funds returned to you from the university in the form of a refund. In some cases, you could have aid adjusted for future terms.
If you are considering dropping a class and have any questions about the financial aid consequences, please contact the Student Service Center.
A withdrawal from all classes is an academic action that should occur only through a formal meeting with an academic advisor in your college office. Whether done through the formal process or through you dropping all of your classes via the web, a withdrawal from all classes can result in the reassessment of your university charges and the recalculation of your financial aid.
As with dropping a class, the specific financial consequences for you depend on several factors:
You could owe additional money to the university (which would be due immediately), or you could have additional funds returned to you from the university in the form of a refund. In some cases, you could have aid adjusted for future terms.
The following institutional policy references should help you gain an understanding of the consequences for you if you withdraw from all classes during the term.
Please refer to the University Fee Refund table on the Registrar's web site for the institutional refund policy. In cases of withdrawal, campus specific charges such as COTA, RPAC, ATI, and Campus Safety are refunded 100% through the first week of classes and are not refunded thereafter. Student Health Insurance charges are refunded 100% through the fourth Friday. Residence hall charges (if applicable) are pro-rated through the eighth week based on the date the room key is returned.
Please note: this policy is only applicable when you formally withdraw via your college office or when you drop all of your courses on the web. If you stop attending without notification, you are not eligible for a refund. See the section below on "Unofficial Withdrawals" for additional information.
The following chart describes the consequences, by type of aid, when you withdraw or stop attending ALL of your classes.
If you have federal Title IV aid (see table above for applicable aid) and you fail to complete at least 60% of a term, the Student Financial Aid Office must determine how much of your aid, if any, must be returned to the federal aid programs based on the percent of the term you completed. Once you complete 60% of the term, you are considered to have earned 100% of your aid. The term length is defined as the first day of classes through the last day of finals.
The federal regulations determine how the order of program funds are returned.
Typically it takes approximately two weeks for the Return of Title IV calculation to be completed.
If you simply stop attending classes, rather than officially withdrawing through your college office or dropping all of your classes online, you will be subject to the same financial aid consequences addressed above. You will also be subject to the following additional consequences:
If you withdrew from all courses and one or more of your courses was a session course, confirmation of attendance for session two is required.
Students will receive a request to complete an Enrollment Confirmation form to indicate to the SFAO if you will or will not be attending a second session course.
If not attending, the Return of Title IV process will begin. If attending a second session course, a Return of Title IV calculation will not be completed. Failure to enroll in the second session will result in the Return of Title IV calculation being completed.
If you are considering withdrawing and have any questions about the financial aid consequences, please contact the Student Service Center.
