Leave of absence is where a student applies to intermit for medical or non-medical reasons.
All requests for leave of absence must be submitted and processed in accordance with the University’s procedure for requesting leave of absence. In approving a request there will be a reasonable expectation that the student will return. A student who is granted a leave of absence is not considered to have withdrawn.
If you have taken Federal Aid during your current year and intermit then you will need to read the following information carefully.
Your Federal Loans will be affected if you intermit and do not meet the criteria required by US regulations relating to Federal Aid. We will have to follow the procedure relating to a student that has withdrawn (in accordance with the ‘Withdrawal and Return to Title IV’ policy).
The total period of intermission must not exceed a total of 180 days in any 12 month period and this includes weekends and scheduled breaks - we will count the number of days between the start and end date of the period of intermission including weekends and vacation.
A student must apply in advance to intermit unless unforeseen circumstances prevent the student from doing so.
Disbursement of proceeds of Federal Aid funds cannot be made whilst a student is in intermission. Please advise the US Funding team if you are planning on applying or have been granted leave to intermit and are currently receiving Federal Aid.
Anglia Ruskin students are required to follow the University’s withdrawal procedure. The regulations specify that the date of withdrawal is “the earlier of the date the student notified the University of their intent or the date the student submitted the withdrawal form”. Students must inform the International office, US Funding team, the lender, and guarantee agency within one week in writing.
The actual date of cessation of attendance and the date of notification of withdrawal will be recorded on the University’s Student Records and will be used in the assessment of the proportion of the Title IV funds that have been earned.
Students that did not attend any teaching for the relevant period are ineligible for any funds and all loan funds received on behalf of the student will be returned to the lender.
Once a student has completed at least 60% of the payment period, a student has earned 100% of the Title IV funds he or she was scheduled to receive during the period. If the student did not receive all of the funds that were earned, they may be due a “post-withdrawal disbursement”.
If the student has withdrawn prior to completing 60% of the relevant period they may not have earned all of the Title IV Funds. A calculation must be performed to determine the proportion of funds they were scheduled to receive, that have been earned, pro-rata to the period in which they were in attendance.
The US Funding team will use the Return to Title IV worksheets provided by the US Department of Education to calculate the amount of post-withdrawal disbursement or the amount of funds to be returned.
If it is established that a return is required then it is mandatory that the University arrange for any unearned funds to be returned within 45 days of the date of withdrawal.
If a student intermits (takes a leave of absence) and doesn’t return this will be treated as a withdrawal and the date used will be the date the intermission began (the beginning of the leave of absence).
If a student never attended, intermits (takes a leave of absence) for a period over 180 days during a term in which they are in receipt of federal loan funds, or withdraws during a term and is in receipt of Title IV financial aid, we are required to determine if any of the loan funds received are to be returned to the US government and this would need to be done within 45 days of the date of withdrawal.
As a result of a Return to Title IV Funds (R2T4) calculation a student may be required to pay back any ‘unearned’ US financial aid received. If the amount of the loan funds required to be returned exceeds any existing credit on the student account, the University may be obligated to return funds on behalf of a student. If this happens the student will owe the funds to their University. Arrangements will need to be made to repay the outstanding amount as soon as possible.
Funds returned to the US Department of Education on behalf of a student are used to repay the current year’s loans in the following order:
The University is required to notify the student of any post-withdrawal disbursement of loan funds within 30 days of the date the student withdrew.
The student will be notified of:
and they will be given a deadline of 15 working days to make a response.
The University is required to disburse any Title IV grant funds a student is due as part of a post-withdrawal disbursement within 45 days of the date the student withdrew and disburse any loan funds a student accepts within 180 days of the date the student withdrew.
The University may automatically use all or a proportion of any post-withdrawal disbursement to meet liabilities for tuition fees or accommodation charges, as determined by the student’s contractual relationship with the University and the University’s policies on refunds of tuition fees and accommodation charges following withdrawal.