Federal Tuition Assistance (FTA)
Return of Tuition Assistance (Unearned TA Policy)
Students who use Tuition Assistance are expected to remain enrolled in the course for its entire duration. If a student using TA withdraws or stops attending, the student may no longer be eligible for the full amount of the benefit that was originally authorized. In this situation, the student will be responsible for the remaining tuition and fees owed to the college.
To remain in compliance with the Department of Defense’s (DoD) policy, Central Lakes College will return any unearned TA funds through at least 60% of the course on a prorated basis. The amount of unearned TA that is returned is based on the student-initiated date of withdrawal or the last date of attendance noted by the instructor.
After 60% of the course has passed, TA will not be evaluated for a return to the DoD.
Central Lakes College will bill the DoD after 60% of the course has passed to reduce the amount of incorrect TA funds the DoD gives the college. The college will only bill for the amount the student earned given their enrollment, length of attendance, and grades.
Schedule for Returning Unearned TA
This return schedule applies to any course regardless of its duration.
Unearned Tuition Assistance funds will be returned on a prorated basis, depending on the length of the course and the amount of the course the student completed.
To determine the amount of TA that needs to be returned, Central Lakes College will determine the date of withdrawal or date of last attendance, count the number of days the student completed and then divide that by the total number of days in the course to determine the percentage of TA that was earned by the student.
Example: The student enrolled in a course with a scheduled duration of 30 days. The student withdrew on the 14th day. Central Lakes College would perform the calculation to determine how much TA was earned by the student’s attendance (14 divided by 30 equals 46.6%; 47% of the TA authorized was earned by the student, which means 53% of what was authorized will be returned to the DoD).
Example: The student enrolled in a course with a scheduled duration of 120 days. The student withdrew on the 34th day. Central Lakes College would perform the calculation to determine how much TA was earned by the student’s attendance (34 divided by 120 equals 28.3%; 28% of the TA authorized was earned by the student, which means 72% of what was authorized will be returned to the DoD).
If the student completed more than 60% of the course, the full amount of TA authorized is considered “earned” and no refund is needed.