Explanation of Overpayment

An overpayment occurs anytime a student receives a payment that is greater than the amount for which the student is eligible. Examples of the four most common types of overpayments are as follows:

• Student error, such as failing to report the spouse's income on the application

• School error, for instance, when a student's award is taken incorrectly from the Pell Payment Schedule, or when the school pays a student who is not making SAP

• Required recalculations, when a student never begins attending class or withdraws from school after receiving a cash disbursement for living expenses

• Optional payments, for instance, when the school makes an interim disbursement to a student selected for verification, but the student never completes verification. (SWTC does not make disbursements until verification is complete; therefore, this is a situation that should not occur at SWTC)

Overpayment Due to Institutional Error

If the Financial Aid Coordinator discovers an overpayment due to Financial aid office error, she will adjust the student's total award to compensate for the error, if possible. If not possible, SWTC will make repayment to the Pell Program and attempt to recover repayment from the student.

Overpayment Due to Incorrect Data

If the overpayment is due to incorrect data on the FAFSA SUBMISSION SUMMARY/ISIR, the Financial Aid Coordinator will assist the student in correcting the FAFSA SUBMISSION SUMMARY/ISIR. The Financial Aid Coordinator will withhold subsequent payments until the corrected FAFSA SUBMISSION SUMMARY/ISIR is received. If possible, the Financial Aid Coordinator adjusts the total award. If this is not possible, then the Financial Aid Coordinator will attempt to collect overpayment from the student. If the overpayment cannot be collected from the student, the Financial Aid Coordinator will consult the Federal Student Financial Aid Handbook to determine if referral to the U.S. Department of Education is appropriate. If so, the student's case will be referred to the U.S. Dept. of Education Debt Collection Service (DCS) for collection.

Receipt of Additional Student Funding Resources

A Pell Grant is an entitlement program. A Pell Grant is never to be adjusted downward because a student receives additional resources during the award year.