General Withdrawal Policies

The following is a summary of the Official LIM College Withdrawal Policy.  You may view the complete policy in the Office of Academic Advising and in the LIM College catalog.

Procedure: A student must meet with the Director of Academic Advising (or an authorized official in the Office of Academic Advising in the absence of the Director) to formally initiate a full or partial withdrawal from the College.  To finalize a full withdrawal, the student must complete a Withdrawal from LIM College form.  Additionally, a Non-Returning Student Survey will be requested from the student.  To finalize a partial withdrawal, the student must complete a Student Withdrawal from a Course form.

There may be a time where a student requests a different date (typically an earlier date as a result of hospitalization, family emergency, etc.) be used for his/her final date of withdrawal.  All requests of this nature must be submitted to the Withdrawal Action Group with supporting documentation.  The Group will take appropriate steps to inform the student of the result of the request and will work with all appropriate parties in the College to resolve the matter.

Academic: If a student partially or fully withdraws after the end of the Add/Drop Period, but prior to the end of the published withdrawal deadline of a semester, the student will receive a grade of “W” for each course from which the student withdraws.  Additionally, the student will be considered part-time (registered for less than 12 credits in a semester) if the course withdrawals bring his/her total credits to below full-time (registered for 12 or more credits in a semester) status.

If a student withdraws after the published withdrawal deadline of a semester, that student will receive a grade of “WF” by default in all courses from which the student is withdrawing.  A “WF” will be calculated into the semester and cumulative GPA as a failing grade.  A student may appeal a “WF” grade to be changed to a “WP.” The appeal must be submitted to the Assistant Dean of Academic Affairs (or designee in the absence of the Assistant Dean) who will ultimately decide to approve or deny the appeal.

Tuition Liability
If a student fully withdraws from the College within the first eight weeks of a semester, the student will be charged an adjusted tuition amount based on a percentage of the original tuition amount and tied to the week in which he/she withdrew.  $100 of tuition paid in a semester is nonrefundable and will be charged as a $100 non-refundable fee. The following chart represents the eight-week tuition liability scale for fully withdrawing students:

Full-Time Tuition Liability

• During the 1st week - 10% tuition liability
• During the 2nd week - 30% tuition liability
• During the 3rd week - 50% tuition liability
• During the 4th week - 60% tuition liability
• During the 5th week - 70% tuition liability
• During the 6th week - 75% tuition liability
• During the 7th week - 75% tuition liability
• During the 8th week - 80% tuition liability

If a student partially withdraws from the college within the first eight weeks of classes in a semester and drops below full-time status (maintains fewer than 12 credits excluding withdrawn courses), the student will be charged a percentage of his/her full-time tuition liability (see above full-time tuition liability chart) and a percentage difference of his/her part-time tuition liability.

Federal Title IV Refund Information

The U.S. Department of Education requires the return of Title IV funds if a student received federal assistance in the form of a Pell Grant, Supplemental Educational Opportunity Grant (SEOG), Academic Competitiveness Grant (ACG), federal Stafford Loan, or a PLUS Loan and withdrew completely on or before completing 60 percent of the semester. Students have only “earned” the portion of their federal aid that is equal to the percentage of the semester that they have completed. Thus the percentage of Title IV funds that must be returned to the government is essentially equal to the percentage of the semester that the student has not completed at the time of withdrawal.

The order in which Title IV funds are to be returned has been determined by the U.S. Department of Education and is as follows:

1. Federal Unsubsidized Stafford Loan
2. Federal Subsidized Stafford Loan
3. Federal PLUS Loan
4. Federal Pell Grant
5. Academic Competitiveness Grant (ACG)
6. Federal Supplemental Educational Opportunity Grant (SEOG)

(Please note: LIM College does not currently offer new loans in the federal Perkins Loan program.)

The U.S. Department of Education has different rules and regulations for each type of aid offered in the federal Title IV Aid Program. Students who partially withdraw will likely require that adjustments be made to their federal Title IV Aid. Please consult with the Office of Student Financial Services to determine how your aid may be affected. A complete listing of this policy, including examples, may be obtained from the Office of Student Financial Services.

Students will still be liable for the cost of tuition and mandatory fees based on LIM College refund schedule (see above) regardless to the amount of Title IV funds that have to be refunded to the federal programs. Please come to the Office of Student Financial Services to review your situation if you choose to withdraw.

New York State (NYS) Refund Information

New York State (NYS) Aid Students receiving NYS Tuition Assistance Program (TAP) grants who fully or partially withdraw from the College may choose to utilize their grant to cover the charges for the semester in which they are withdrawing. Students who fully withdraw and choose to keep their award will not be eligible to receive a NYS TAP payment in their next full-time semester of enrollment at any college based on the program pursuit requirements set forth by the NYS Higher Education Services Corporation (HESC). Students who partially withdraw are able to retain their NYS TAP eligibility for the semester in which they withdraw, but may not be eligible the following semester based on program pursuit guidelines set forth by NYS HESC.

LIM College assumes that all students who withdraw with NYS TAP eligibility will not want to retain their NYS TAP grant at LIM College for the semester in which they are withdrawing. If a student would like to retain his/her NYS TAP grant eligibility for the semester in which he/she is withdrawing, then the student must complete a New York State (NYS) Tuition Assistance Program (TAP) Retention Authorization for Withdrawal.

LIM College Scholarships and Grants

Students who withdraw and are receiving LIM College grants or scholarships can retain a prorated portion or their entire award based on the week in the semester in which they withdraw and their assessed tuition liability. A complete listing of this policy, including examples, may be obtained from the Office of Student Financial Services.