Find out about financial aid eligibility and repayment if you drop a few or all of your classes.

The U.S. Department of Education wants financial aid recipients to graduate from college in a reasonable time frame. Dropping classes will likely cause a delay in a student s expected graduation date.

There are time and funding limitations to all financial aid programs. Since there are limited financial funds available to a student over the course of his or her academic career, monitoring academic progress is a necessity.

Find out about financial aid eligibility and repayment if you drop some or all of your classes.

An excessive amount of dropped classes by a student as defined in Sections 3 and 5 of the satisfactory academic progress policy could negatively impact your ability to maintain financial aid eligibility.

If you completely withdraw during any semester as a federal financial aid recipient at UNLV, you will be subject to the Federal Return of Title IV Funds Policy as conducted by the Financial Aid & Scholarships Office.

If you received federal financial aid you must "earn" the aid received by staying enrolled in school. The amount of federal financial aid assistance you earned is determined on a pro-rata basis. If you withdraw or stop attending classes during the enrollment period, you may be required to return some of the financial aid you were awarded. For example, if you complete 30 percent of the semester, you earned 30 percent of the aid you originally were scheduled to receive. This means that 70 percent of your scheduled awards remain unearned and must be returned to the federal government.

In simple terms, the longer you stay enrolled in school, the more financial aid you actually earned for the semester. What you did not earn must be returned back to the respective federal aid program.

Percent earned = number of calendar days completed up to the withdrawal date divided by total calendar days in the payment period (less any scheduled breaks that are at least 5 days long)

Percent unearned = 100 percent minus percent earned

You are responsible for any financial aid assistance awarded to you for which you do not qualify or earn. You will be notified of any overpayment that you may have to repay UNLV in a timely manner. You may be ineligible for future federal and state financial assistance at UNLV or other institutions until you repay any amount which may be due.

Please realize that even if you repay the overpayment (unearned) amount, you are also subject to the Satisfactory Academic Progress (SAP) policy for maintaining your financial aid eligibility.

The timing of your decision to withdraw should not be based solely on the impact of your financial aid. Financial aid is only one consideration. Your personal well-being is also important. It may be beneficial to discuss your situation with your academic advisor or Counseling & Psychological Services. You will want to make a well-informed decision regarding any financial and academic consequences of your decision.