TC’s refund policy changed

By DeAunna Lester
TC News Reporter

Texarkana College’s refund policy has changed. Now payments will be disbursed in two payments.

Students received their refunds from the first half of their loan beginning in October, and the second half will be disbursed November 4.

The policy changed because the federal government is requiring that all single-semester loans be disbursed in two payments. Students who receive Pell Grants will not be affected by this change.

Jesse Hausler, a Financial Aid Loan Coordinator at TC, said, “Any student that drops out before the census day (September 9) the school will remove the student’s financial aid entirely and send the entire amount back to the government. In this case, the student will not receive a refund. The student will owe Texarkana College a little for holding those classes for them, but they won’t owe any financial aid back except for whatever they charged in the TC Bookstore.”

Hausler also said a student who shows a pattern of dropping classes “may eventually be suspended from financial aid.”

According to Hausler, a student who drops all of their classes may still get a refund, but they will owe a lot of it back.

This is a government process called “Return to Title 4,” or “R2T4”, which is basically the government saying, “We sent you several thousand dollars to go to school with, but you just dropped out of school, so we have a broken contract here, and we want part of our money back.”

Texarkana College actually pays the government from its own money on the student’s behalf, and then the student has to repay the school.

The amount owed back depends on how long the student tried to stick it out – someone who drops out in early September will probably owe almost all of their financial aid back, but someone who keeps trying in class and works hard until mid-November will only owe a small portion.

If a person finishes the semester with even a single class, they won’t owe the government back for their financial aid.

For more information or unanswered questions, contact Jesse Hausler, Financial Aid Loan Coordinator at (903) 823-3267 or email at jesse.hausler@texarkanacollege.edu.