Cancellations and Refunds

A student has the right to cancel the enrollment agreement they signed for a program through attendance at the first-class day or the seventh day after enrollment, whichever is later to receive a full refund of charges. The notice of cancellation need not take any particular form, and, however expressed, it is effective if it shows that a student no longer wishes to be bound by the enrollment agreement. However, if a student attended at least one day, in the cancellation period, and did not return to class he/she will be treated as a cancel as it relates to the refund policy and all monies will be returned.
If a student is a “no show”, meaning they enrolled and never attended a single day of class he/she will also be treated as a cancel as it relates to the refund policy and all monies will be refunded. In both of these instances a formal notice is not required.
The student can either no show, stop attending in the cancellation period or notify admissions verbally that he or she wishes to cancel this enrollment agreement before the end of the cancellation period.

Southern California Health Institute has designed the following policies and procedures to ensure proper accountability when a student leaves school.

The U.S. Department of Education regulations shall be strictly adhered to in all instances of calculating a return of Title IV unearned funds. As a general rule, grants do not need to be repaid. However, a student may have to repay a certain amount if he or she withdraws or is dismissed prior to completing more than 60% of a payment period.
When a student has exhausted all excused absences according to the attendance policy (see attendance policy in the Southern California Health Institute course catalog) and a leave of absence has not been requested (or one has been requested but denied) on the 14th consecutive day of nonattendance the student will be unofficially withdrawn as of the last date attended.
The portion of a federal grant that the student is entitled to receive is calculated on a percentage basis by comparing the total number of hours in a payment period to the hours scheduled to complete in the payment period upon the student’s last day of attendance. For example, if the student completes 30% of the payment period, he/she earns 30% of the assistance that he/she was originally scheduled to receive. This means that 70% of the scheduled award remains unearned and must be returned to the Department of Education.
Once a student has completed more than 60% of the payment period, he or she has earned all of the grant money for that disbursement period. Once the amount of Title IV aid is determined by the Student Finance office, the student will receive a letter stating how much Title IV aid was earned. The letter will also explain if the student has an outstanding balance that is owed to the school for tuition and fees. The student must realize that tuition and fees may be offset from the amount earned by the student. Upon withdrawal if the amount earned by the student is greater than the amount disbursed, then a post-withdrawal calculation is performed. If the amount earned by the student is less than the amount disbursed, then a Title IV return of fund calculation is performed. If the amounts earned and disbursed are equal, no further action is taken. When a return of PELL grant funds is due, the school and the student both have a responsibility for returning the funds.

If the student receives less PELL grant monies than the amount earned, Southern California Health Institute will make a disbursement of the earned aid that was not disbursed if student has met all eligibility requirements.
SOCHi will credit a student’s account with a post withdrawal disbursement for current tuition and fees. Earned funds in excess of tuition/fees will be provided to the student.
SOCHi will send notification no later than 30 calendar days after the date the Student Finance Office determines the student withdrew. The student will then be sent notification about the post-withdrawal disbursement.
Southern California Health Institute will disburse the funds to the student within 45 days of the date the school determines the student withdrew. If the student cannot be located or refuses the funds as per a written and signed statement, the funds will then be returned to the federal PELL grant program.

If the student receives more PELL grant monies than the amount earned, either Southern California Health Institute or the student – or both – must return the unearned funds.
When a return of PELL grant funds is due, both Southern California Health Institute and the student have a responsibility for returning funds. Whatever funds are not returned by the school must be returned by the student. The student’s repayment obligation is determined after the school’s share is calculated.
SOCHi will return all unearned funds within 30 days from the date the Director of Student Finance determines that the student withdrew. Necessary funds will be returned to the federal PELL grant program by the business office.
If a student owes a repayment to the PELL grant program, Southern California Health Institute will notify the student within 30 days that he or she is responsible for repaying the overpayment. Such notification will contain the following:

• The fact that the student must return funds due to an overpayment of PELL grant
• That the student’s eligibility for additional Title IV funds will end if the student fails to take positive action by the 45th day following the date the school sent or was required to send notification to the student.
• That there are two positive actions a student can take to extend eligibility for title iv funds:
  • The student may repay the overpayment in full to the school within 45 days.
  • o The student may sign a repayment agreement with the department of education.
• If the student fails to take one of the positive actions during the 45-day period, the student’s overpayment will be reported to NSLDS and referred to the department of education for collection.
• That the student should contact the school to discuss his/her options.

If a student withdraws, drops, or for some reason fails to complete a period for which they have paid the tuition, Southern California Health Institute will calculate what, if any, return needs to be made. The students last date of attendance (LDA) will be used to perform the refund calculation and all refunds will be made within 45 days of the date of determination (DOD).
The DOD is the date which the student either gave notice to the institution of his/her withdrawal or the date which the institution itself determined that the student will no longer be attending. If the student is a PELL grant recipient, it will, in many cases, require a return of a portion of the monies received by both the institution and the student to the PELL grant program.
The calculation will be according to the department of education’s “return of Title IV funds.” The regulation requires a calculation based on the actual percentage of the period the student was scheduled to attend.
Southern California Health Institute may charge the student for any monies which the school must return to the PELL grant program. Refunds to students who are paying their own tuition or agencies that are sponsoring a student who withdraws or is dropped, may receive a refund according to the institutional refund policy. Examples of the application of the refund policy are available upon request.
Students who believe that individual circumstances warrant exception from the published policy may appeal to the Director of Student Finance. The Director of Student Finance, in consultation with the Campus President shall determine whether the student’s circumstances warrant an exception.

A student wishing to withdraw from Southern California Health Institute prior to the end of a module and/or a financial aid disbursement period must provide notice to the school either in writing or verbally.
This is an official withdrawal. Students are given a letter grade at the time of withdrawal. Students making SAP at the time of their withdrawal who return to the same program within 180 days are considered to be in the same payment period. Written or verbal notice should be submitted to the Southern California Health Institute’s Campus President.
The notice should contain the date the student will cease attendance and the reason for the withdrawal. The official withdrawal date is the date the student has the withdrawal form signed by the administration, or the last date of attendance.
The withdrawal process shall be as follows:

• The notice will be forwarded to the student’s instructor to obtain the student’s grade at the time of the withdrawal.
• The notice will also be immediately forwarded to the Student Finance Office if the student is on financial aid.
• The Student Finance Office will calculate any refunds due to the Title IV program and notify the student in writing within five days.
• The student will be billed for any refunds due to the Federal Financial Aid programs.
• If the student has not repaid the funds within 45 days, the repayment due will be posted to the national student loan data base showing the student is ineligible for further funding.
• If the student has not repaid the funds within 45 days, the collection department of the U.S. Department of Education will be notified

If a student drops or withdraws from a program at Southern California Health Institute before completion, tuition refunds will apply as follows:
Students who withdraw from school or stop attending within the first five (5) days of scheduled classes will receive a full refund for tuition and fees.
Refund calculations of tuition and fees, for students who withdraw from the program prior to completing sixty percent (60%) of the program, will be refunded tuition on a pro rata basis relating to the time enrolled until the last date of attendance. However, if a student withdraws from the institution after completing sixty percent (60%) of the program, no refund will be due them and the tuition cost of the program period will be the student’s responsibility.
The students last date of attendance (LDA) will be used to perform the refund calculation and all refunds will be made within 45 days of the date of determination (DOD). The DOD is the date which the student either gave notice to the institution of his/her withdrawal or the date which the institution itself determined that the student will no longer be attending.
If a student does not return from an approved leave of absence, then the last date of attendance will be used as the withdrawal date. Also, if a student does not attend class for fourteen (14) consecutive days, on the 15th day of non-attendance the student will be 41 Southern California Health Institute - School Catalog 2019 unofficially withdrawn as of the last date attended.
SOCHi is required to be licensed by BPPE and the state mandates a cancellation and refund policy, the institution must demonstrate compliance with that policy as well as with any unique requirements of ACCET’s refund policy. The institution compared and analyzed its institutional refund policy with the state’s refund policy and with ACCET’s refund policy.
The institution determined that because all of SOCHi’s programs have a less than 12-month period of financial obligation, and because the Institution’s policy is always more favorable to the student when compared with ACCET or BPPE, that the institutional refund policy will always be implemented and followed as per the footnote of ACCET’s policy on Document 31. Sample calculations of the three policies at different periods of enrollment are available in the Office of Student Finance.
This policy applies to students who withdraw from the school, either officially or unofficially, or are administratively dismissed. Tuition and fee refunds for these students are determined according to the following policy: The term "Title IV Funds" refers to the Federal Financial Aid programs authorized under the higher education act of 1965 (as amended) and the following programs:
Unsubsidized Stafford Loans, Subsidized Stafford Loans, Federal Plus Loans, Federal PELL Grants, Academic Competitiveness Grants (ACG), National Smart Grants, and Federal Supplemental Educational Opportunity Grants (FSEOG).
A student's withdrawal date is the earlier of the date the student began the school's withdrawal process (as described in the Southern California Health Institute catalog) or officially notified the Campus President of intent to withdraw; or fourteen (14) consecutive days after a student ceases attending scheduled classes without notifying the school.
Note: medical withdrawals and the return of Title IV funds - students who are granted medical withdrawal are treated in the same manner as students who withdraw from the institute.

Students who cancel or no show cannot have excluded charges in excess of $200 in application/registration fees.
Students withdrawing from SOCHi by the close of business on the fifth (5th) day of the first module will receive a one hundred percent (100%) refund. Refunds will be sent to students’ mailing (permanent) addresses following withdrawal. Adjusted bills will be sent to the students’ email addresses. In accordance with federal regulations, when Federal Financial Aid is involved refunds are allocated in the following order:

• 1. Unsubsidized Stafford Loans
• 2. Subsidized Stafford Loans
• 3. Federal Plus Loans
• 4. Federal PELL Grants
• 5. Federal ACG (if applicable)
• 6. Federal Smart (if applicable)
• 7. Federal SEOG (if applicable)
• 8. Other Title IV federal assistance (if applicable)
• 9. Other federal sources of aid (if applicable)
• 10. Other state, private and institutional aid (if applicable)

Southern California Health Institute’s responsibilities in regard to the return of title iv funds include providing each Federal Financial Aid recipient with the information given in this policy; identifying students who are affected by this policy and completing the return of Title IV federal funds calculation for those students; and making required returns of Title IV federal funds that are due the title iv programs.
The student's responsibilities in regard to the return of Title IV funds include notifying the Campus President in person of the intent to withdraw; following the school’s prescribed procedures for officially withdrawing and returning to the title iv federal programs any funds that were disbursed directly to the student for which the student was or is determined to be ineligible.

Students who receive a refund after the start of class may have excluded charges which are not calculated in the return of funds.
The amount is prorated based on the materials distributed and attributable to the portion of the program in which the student has attended and based on the last date of attendance.
The following charges would be excluded from the return of funds for student who attended class beyond the cancellation date:

• Unpaid charges for the current module
• Institutional charges for prior modules
• Registration fees
• Orientation fees (if applicable)
• Textbook fees
• Fees for non-returnable supplies and equipment

Note that students who no show or cancel cannot have excluded charges that exceed $200 in application/registration fees.

Any notification of a withdrawal shall be made to the Campus President or Administrative Dean. Cancellation of enrollment applications (prior to enrollment in classes) should as stated in the above cancellation policy.
If a student believes that his or her individual circumstances warrant that their charges or refund should be determined in a manner other than described in Southern California Health Institute’s published policies, please contact the Campus President in writing to explain your circumstances or justification for an exception. The Campus President shall determine whether the student’s circumstances warrant an exception.

Delinquent tuition and fees will be collected by a third-party servicer or SOCHi’s Student Finance Department.
Graduates and students will be notified by mail, email, and telephone of their past due payments. Once all attempts to collect have been exhausted, SOCHi will turn delinquent accounts to a collection agency.
Disclaimer: the fees, procedures, and policies listed above supersede those published previously and are subject to change at any time when required by changes in federal regulations. This policy reflects Southern California Health Institute’s good faith effort to interpret federal regulations that have a bearing on such matters.