Refund and Repayment Policy

Dropping or withdrawing from classes can cause a student to owe back financial aid funds.

Refund and Repayment Policy

Dropping or withdrawing from classes can cause a student to owe back financial aid funds.

Per 34 CFR 668.22(j) of the Code of Federal Regulations, “Timeframe for the return of title IV funds. (1) An institution must return the amount of title IV funds for which it is responsible under paragraph (g) of this section as soon as possible but no later than 45 days after the date of the institution's determination that the student withdrew as defined in paragraph (l)(3) of this section. The timeframe for returning funds is further described in §668.173(b).

Per 34 CFR 668.22(j)(2) of the Code of Federal Regulations, “(2) For an institution that is not required to take attendance, an institution must determine the withdrawal date for a student who withdraws without providing notification to the institution no later than 30 days after the end of the earlier of the—

(i) Payment period or period of enrollment, as appropriate, in accordance with paragraph (e)(5) of this section;
(ii) Academic year in which the student withdrew; or
(iii) Educational program from which the student withdrew.

CNM Repayment Policy

An important issue that can affect financial aid eligibility involves dropping courses before the CNM official census date as defined by the part of term. This date can be found in the Schedule of Classes under the heading, “Last Day to Drop without a W.”

Classes dropped before the census date are not eligible for financial aid.

When a student drops a class before the census date we must reduce the student’s grant eligibility by the amount that the student was paid for that class. Students are billed for this amount with a “hold” placed on their registration until it is paid in full. This process is called “Recouping.

Official Withdrawals

Students who wish to withdraw completely from CNM must officially drop all their classes. Classes can be dropped in many ways;

Online: Please view the Registration Guidelines for a step by step instruction on how to drop classes online.
Over the phone: Call 224-3160 to speak to a Records & Registration specialist.
By email: Contact CNM
By fax: Please call 224-3160 to speak to a Records & Registration specialist.
In person at any Registration Office.

On Main Campus the Registration Office is located in the Student Service Center (SSC) room 103.

On Montoya Campus, the Registration Office is located in the Tom Wiley Building, room 100.

On the Westside Campus, the Registration Office is located in the WS#2 Building, room 106.

On the Rio Rancho Campus, the Registration Office is located in the RRI Building, room 100.

6) A 3^rd party may drop classes on behalf of a student if the 3^rd party has a signed Authorization to Release Educational Records document on file with CNM Records Dept. Other cases of a 3^rd party dropping classes on behalf of a student are handled on a case by case basis. Please contact Yvonne Martinez, Associate Registrar for more information.

Students who do not drop all their classes by the published deadlines (see the Schedule of Classes) will receive final grades.

Financial aid recipients whose circumstances require that they withdraw from all classes are strongly encouraged to contact the CNM Financial Aid Office and their academic advisor before doing so. At that time, the consequences of withdrawing from all classes can be explained. The CNM Financial Aid Office staff can provide examples of return of funds calculations and further explain this policy to students or parents.

Although, per CNM’s refund policy, a student may be eligible for a refund of all or part of their tuition &/or fees, per federal regulations the same student may also be responsible for repaying a portion of their federal student aid (Pell & SEOG Grants, Subsidized, Unsubsidized & PLUS loans) if the student does not actually attend at least 60% of the semester.

CNM’s refund policy and the federal regulations concerning the return of federal student aid for students who do not attend at least 60% of the semester are 2 separate & distinct sets of rules. At this time, there are no exceptions to the regulations concerning the return of federal student aid for students who do not attend at least 60% of the semester.

If a student officially withdraws from all classes or stops attending all classes, school charges that were previously paid by federal student aid may become a debit that the student will be responsible for re-paying.

Per federal regulations, all students with federal student aid must "earn" their aid before they are entitled to keep 100% of it. Federal student aid is “earned” day by day, week by week. A student will earn the funds as they complete the term period.

A student who officially withdraws is entitled to keep the "earned" portion, and must repay the "unearned" portion of their federal student aid. CNM will send a bill within 2 weeks to students that have an "unearned" portion of their federal student aid. CNM is required to return unearned federal funds within 45 days of the date of school determination student withdrew, but usually returns the funds much faster (within 2 weeks), then bills the student for the amount returned.

For example, if a student attends approximately 30% of a semester, the student will earn approximately 30% of their federal student aid for that semester. Once the student has completed more than 60% of the semester, the student has earned 100% of the federal student aid for that semester.

Officially withdrawn students are notified of any grant or loan over-payment within two weeks by CNM's BURSAR’s Office billing cycle.

Modular Withdrawals

Students who are in modular programs (less than full term length classes), and who drop at least one class, may have to repay a portion of Title IV aid. It depends on the answers to the following questions:

At the time the student dropped the class, were they enrolled in another class?
Has the other class already started?

If the other class has not yet started, the student will be asked to provide a written confirmation of future attendance. If the student does not provide this confirmation of future attendance, they will be considered a modular withdrawal.

If the other class has started, and the student is attending, the student is not considered a modular withdraw.

Students who are modular withdraws are notified of any grant or loan over-payment within two weeks by CNM's billing cycle.

Unofficial Withdrawals

Students who earn no passing grades in a given term are assumed to have unofficially withdrawn. Unofficially withdrawn students are students who receive Title IV financial aid and then stop attending all coursework and do not officially drop all their classes. Unofficially withdrawn students may be required to repay a portion of their Title IV financial aid received unless the school can document that the student participated in academically related activities through 60% completion of the term.

Reminder: Per federal regulations, all students with federal student aid must "earn" their aid before they are entitled to keep 100% of it. Federal student aid is “earned” day by day, week by week. A student will earn the funds as they complete the period and participate in academically related activities though the period.

Per 34 CFR 668.22(c)(3) of the Code of Federal Regulations, “(3) Notwithstanding paragraphs (c)(1) and (2) of this section, an institution that is not required to take attendance may use as the student's withdrawal date a student's last date of attendance at an academically-related activity provided that the institution documents that the activity is academically related and documents the student's attendance at the activity.

A student who unofficially withdraws is entitled to keep the "earned" portion, and must repay the "unearned" portion of their federal student aid.

The process for unofficially withdrawn students

Immediately after grades are posted at the end of each term, unofficially withdrawn student are identified. Unofficially withdrawn student are students who received Federal financial aid and have no passing grades.
The Student withdrawal date is the midpoint of the payment period or period of enrollment, unless the school uses a last date of attendance of an academically related activity.
In conjunction with the student’s length of term & institutional charges, the LDA determines the student’s “earned” & “unearned” portions of their federal aid.
A student who unofficially withdraws is entitled to keep the "earned" portion, and must repay the "unearned" portion of their federal student aid.
Unofficially withdrawn students are notified of any grant or loan over-payment within two weeks by CNM's billing cycle.

Return of Title IV Funds

Students who withdraw from the College either officially, unofficially, are modular withdraws will be subject to the Federal Return of Title IV Funds Policy.

When a student withdraws, the amount of financial aid that has been "earned" by a student is based on the number of days attended. If the amount of aid disbursed to the student is less than the amount the student earned, they may be eligible to receive a post-withdrawal disbursement of the earned aid that was not received.

Post-withdrawal disbursements are subject to proof of attendance through the date of withdrawal.

Students are not eligible to receive aid for classes dropped before the census date as described above.

If the amount of aid disbursed to the student is greater than the amount the student earned, they may need to repay a portion of the aid that was not earned.

Student Responsibility for all unearned Title IV Program assistance

When a return of Title IV Funds is due, both the school and the student have a responsibility for returning funds to the Department of Education (ED).

The repayment distribution depends on the type of funds received by the student and is repaid by CNM in the following order:

Unsubsidized Federal Stafford Loan
Subsidized Federal Stafford Loan
Federal Perkins Loan
Federal PLUS Loan
Federal Pell Grant
Federal SEOG

After forty-five days, if the student fails to pay the refund to CNM, the debt may be referred to the Department of Education for collection. The student is ineligible for any further federal financial aid at any school in the country until that debt is paid off.

After a student withdraws

If a student drops all classes, or stops attending all classes, Satisfactory Academic Progress (SAP) and eligibility for future Federal financial aid may be affected. To be eligible for Federal financial aid, students must meet 3 criteria:

Qualitative Progress: Students must maintain a cumulative grade point average of at least 2.0 (a C average). Grade point values are: A = 4.0, B = 3.0, C = 2.0, D = 1.0, F = 0. Grades of I, CR, PR, NC, W, AU and TR are not calculated in the GPA. In the case of a repeat course, only the higher grade is calculated into the grade point average.
Completion Rate: Students must complete a minimum of 66.67 percent of all course work (registered credit hours) attempted at CNM. Any course with a grade of withdraw (W), (F), incomplete (I), progress (PR), audit (AU) or No Credit (NC) is not considered completed course work. A course is counted as completed only once, regardless of how many times attempted or the grade earned. Transfer credit is counted as attempted and completed, thus increasing a student’s completion rate.
Maximum Time Frame: Students must complete their program within 150 percent of the credit hours required by the program. Students who have reached their maximum allowable credit hours will be suspended from receiving financial aid. Developmental or remedial hours are excluded from this calculation. The MTF calculation counts all attempted hours including repeated courses, ineligible courses and transfer hours accepted by CNM. This also includes hours taken under a previous major and hours for which a student did not receive financial aid. To learn more about the consequences of withdraw completely from CNM, please contact a Financial Aid Advisor or Accountant. Officially withdrawn students are notified of any grant or loan over-payment within two weeks by CNM's billing cycle.

If, by withdrawing completely from CNM, a student’s SAP falls below the above criteria, the student is placed on a “warning” semester. The student is still eligible for federal financial aid during the “warning” semester. If, after the end of the warning term, the student is still not meeting the above 3 federal criteria, their federal financial aid will be suspended until either:

Their academic progress meets the federal criteria, or
Their appeal for reinstatement of federal financial aid is approved. Please review the details of the appeal process.

Consumer Information

If a student drops one, or all classes, or stops attending all classes, Satisfactory Academic Progress (SAP) and eligibility for future Federal financial aid may be affected. Because of the individual nature of a student’s academic progress, please contact the financial aid office for more specific information on how your academic progress is affected.

Steps to withdraw completely from CNM

Drop online. Please follow this link for a step by step instruction on how to drop classes online.
Drop in person at any Registration Office. Main Campus Registration Office is located in the Student Service Center (SSC). Montoya Campus Registration Office is located in the Tom Wiley Building, room 100. Westside Campus Registration Office is located in the WS #2 Building, room 106. Rio Rancho Campus Registration Office is located in the RRI Building, room 100.
A 3^rd party may drop classes on behalf of a student if they have a signed Authorization to Release Educational Records document on file with CNM Records Dept. Other cases of a 3^rd party dropping classes on behalf of a student who is not able to drop themselves are handled on a case by case basis.
Requests to rescind an official or modular withdrawal are handled on a case by case basis by the Records & Registration dept.
It is not possible to rescind an unofficial withdrawal because they are identified after the term ends.

Refund and Repayment Policy