Financial aid is awarded with the expectation that you will attend all the classes for which your awards were intended. Once you start attending classes, the federal government requires that you “earn” your Pell Grant award according to the number of days you do attend.
The enrollment status used to calculate your semester’s Pell Grant payment will be the courses in which you are actively enrolled as of the end of the first week of classes. If you drop a class within the first week of school or if your instructor reports you as never having attended the class, the class(es) will not be counted in calculating your enrollment status and the amount of your PELL disbursement will be reduced.
If you withdraw from all your classes after receiving a Pell Grant payment, you may have to repay some or all of that payment, as determined by the college according to federal regulations.
If you withdraw from all of your classes before a scheduled payment, you may be eligible to receive a portion of your PELL award based on the number of days you attended classes up to the date you withdrew.
If you receive completion grades in any courses not included when your original PELL award was calculated and disbursed, your award will be recalculated and additional funds issued.
Retroactive withdrawals which eliminate any record of your attendance for a term will result in your having to repay all assistance you may have received for that term.
For more information about the effect of withdrawals on your federal financial aid eligibility, click here.
