Tuition Assistance (TA) Refund Policy
Military Tuition Assistance is a benefit paid to the school for eligible military student recipients who are active members of the Army, Navy, Marines, Air Force, and Coast Guard. The student is awarded the TA benefit with the understanding that the student will attend the entire semester. Chaffey College is required to calculate Military Tuition Assistance (TA) earned when a military student using TA withdraws.
As participants in the Department of Defense (DoD) Voluntary Education Partnership Memorandum of Understanding (MOU), students who officially or unofficially withdraw from a course before completing 61% of the semester have not earned 100% of the amount of their voucher for the withdrawn course.
Chaffey College is required to return the unearned portion of the TA funds to the military service that provided the TA funding. Unearned TA funds that are returned to the appropriate military branch of service will become a debt to the student. Chaffey College will calculate the amount of unearned Tuition Assistance funds using the official last date of attendance, as determined by the institution’s attendance records. The last date of attendance is used to determine the number of days completed.
To remain in compliance with the Department of Defense’s policy, Chaffey College will return any unearned TA funds through at least 60% of the semester on a prorated basis. The amount of unearned TA that is returned is based on the date of withdrawal from the course.
After 60% of the semester has passed, TA will not be evaluated for a return to the DOD.
As an institution, the DOD will be billed after 60% of the semester has passed to reduce the amount of incorrect TA funds being disbursed by the DOD to Chaffey College. We will only bill for the amount the student earned given their enrollment.
Schedule for returning unearned TA
16 – Week course withdrawal
- Before or during week 1: 100% return
- During week 2: 90% return
- During week 3: 80% return
- During week 4: 70% return
- During week 5: 60% return
- During week 6: 50% return
- During week 7: 40% return
- During week 8: 30% return
- During week 9: 20% return
- During week 10: 10% return (60% of course is completed)
- During weeks 11-16: 0% return
For courses that have durations differing from those listed above:
Unearned TA funds will be returned on a prorated basis, depending on the length of the course. To determine the amount of TA that needs to be returned, the institution will determine the date the withdrawal was submitted, and then divide that by the number of days in the term to determine the percentage of TA that was earned by the student.
Example: The student enrolled in a course that’s duration is 30 days. The withdrawal was submitted on the 14th day. The institution would perform the calculation to determine how much TA was earned by the student’s attendance: (14 divided by 30 equals 46.6%. 47% of the TA authorized was earned by the student, which means 53% of what was authorized will be returned to the DOD).
The return of TA funds may result in a balance due on the student account. However, in instances where a Service member stops attending due to a verifiable military service obligation, Chaffey College will work with the affected Service member to identify solutions that will not result in student debt for the returned portion.
