Drops & Withdrawals

Aid rules treat dropped and withdrawn courses very differently. This page explains those aid rules. Please also visit Understanding Course Drops & Withdrawals to learn about the other non-aid-related impacts.

Dropping Classes (During the Change of Schedule Period)

You can only drop courses until the change of schedule deadlines at the beginning of each term. You will not receive any grades for dropped courses and will receive a full refund of tuition and fee charges.

Withdrawing from Classes (After the Change of Schedule Period)

After the change of schedule deadlines, you can only withdraw from classes. You will receive a W grade and must meet withdraw deadlines.

Drop/Add Aid Impact

If you drop or add classes before the change of schedule deadline:

• We will recalculate your financial aid eligibility based on your revised total enrolled term units as of the change of schedule deadline. 
• If your revised term units shift you to a different enrollment level, we may need to adjust your aid. To see how enrollment levels can change aid eligibility, see Minimum Credits. 
• If we have to reduce or cancel your aid, you may also have to repay all or a portion of any financial aid rebates that you have already received.

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Tuition and Fee Rates and Refund Policy

Visit the Student & University Billing Office for information about full-time and part-time tuition and fee rates and the refund policy and deadlines for students who withdraw from classes after the change of schedule deadlines.

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Withdraw Grade Aid Impact

Withdraw grades can affect your financial aid eligibility. How it affects you depends on the type of aid you are receiving and whether you withdraw from some of your courses (partial withdrawal) or all your courses (complete withdrawal) for that term.

Satisfactory Academic Progress (SAP) Violations

All W grades can lead to violations of the Satisfactory Academic Progress (SAP) Policy for financial aid recipients because the SAP Policy treats all W grades as unsuccessful course attempts. Failing grades (F and FX) can also lead to SAP violations. Read the SAP policy for a full explanation.

Merit-based Admission Scholarship Limits

If you were awarded any of TU's merit-based Admissions scholarships you must meet all these Scholarship Conditions to remain eligible for these scholarships. These conditions include minimum enrolled units each semester, consecutive enrollment for every fall and spring semester, and minimum GPA and earned unit requirements to remain eligible to receive these scholarships for future terms. Withdrawing from courses could push you below the earned unit requirements. If you have questions about this policy, contact the Scholarship Unit at 410-704-2647 or scholarship AT_TOWSON. These requirements do not apply to federal aid programs.

MHEC Grants

If you received MHEC's Educational Assistance Grant or Guaranteed Access Grant, to receive a renewal grant next year, you must also meet MHEC's annual Credit Completion Requirements.

Undisbursed Federal Loan Funds

If you have undisbursed federal loan funds, we won't be able to disburse those loan funds unless you are still enrolled at least half-time on the date we attempt to disburse the loan. This requirement only applies to loans for the current term that haven't already been disbursed. See Minimum Credits for a definition of half-time.

Partial Withdrawals

If you withdraw from some, but not all your classes during a term, we will not reduce the aid you have already received for that term.

Complete Withdrawals

If you drop or withdraw from all your classes during a term, we may have to reduce or cancel aid that you have already received and you may have to repay a portion of your financial aid rebates. See details below.

Federal Refund and Repayment Policy for Complete Withdrawals

If you withdraw from all your classes during a term that you received the TU Institutional Grant or any Federal Title IV financial aid, we may need to cancel a portion of your financial aid for that term. Federal Title IV aid includes Pell and SEOG Grants and Federal Subsidized, Unsubsidized, and PLUS Loans.

We calculate the portion of aid (if any) that must be canceled (and returned to the federal government) based on a federal formula that determines how much aid was already earned, and what portion of unearned aid must be cancelled. If your aid is canceled/reduced, you may have to submit additional payments to TU to replace your canceled/reduced aid. You may also have to repay some or all of your financial aid rebate.

Calculation of Title IV Aid Earned

The university must first determine the percentage of aid earned by the student for a term. If you withdraw before completing 60% of the semester, the percentage of aid earned is based on the percentage of the term completed as of the withdrawal date. If you withdraw after completing 60% of the term, you can keep 100% of your financial aid. 

Calculation of Title IV Aid Not Earned

The amount of aid not earned by the student is calculated by determining the complement of the percentage of aid the student earned. That percentage is then applied to the total amount of grant and loan aid that was disbursed for the term. 

Differences between Earned and Received

If the student has received more grant or loan aid than the amount earned, the unearned funds must be returned to the Title IV programs by the university or the student, or both.

Responsibility of the School

Towson University must return to the Title IV programs the lesser of the following:

• The unearned amount of Title IV aid; or
• The institutional charges incurred for the term multiplied by the unearned percentage of Title IV grant and loan aid. For these calculations, institutional charges are defined as tuition and fee charges, and room and dining plan charges paid directly to TU.

Responsibility of the Student

Students must return unearned Title IV aid minus the amount the university returns. The U.S. Department of Education does not allow discretion on the part of the university for non-institutional costs. In most cases, when students receive Title IV aid greater than the amount of their institutional charges, and completely withdraw from the university, they must return some of those federal funds.

Special Rules

When students (or parents in the case of PLUS Loans) are required to return a portion or all of their loan proceeds, the calculated amount will be repaid according to the original terms of the loan(s).

In addition, the U.S. Department of Education recognizes that many students have limited resources to meet their up-front expenses. Therefore, students who must return grant funds themselves (rather than the school), are given additional consideration and the students' grant repayments are reduced by half.