Military Tuition Assistance (TA) is awarded to a student under the assumption that the student will attend school for the entire period for which the assistance is awarded. When a student withdraws, the student may no longer be eligible for the full amount of TA funds originally awarded.
To comply with the new Department of Defense policy, Michigan State University will return any unearned TA funds on a prorated basis through at least the 60% portion of the period for which the funds were provided. TA funds are earned proportionally during an enrollment period, with unearned funds returned based upon when a student stops attending. These funds are returned to the military Service branch.
Instances when a Service member stops attending due to a military service obligation, Michigan State University will work with the affected Service member to identify solutions that will not result in student debt for the returned portion.
Calculation
When a student “officially” withdraws from a course, the date of withdrawal will be used as the last date of attendance. If a student receives a zero grade for a course, that is considered an “unofficial” withdrawal.
For unofficial withdrawals, Michigan State University (MSU) will determine the last date of attendance (LDA) by reviewing the last date of activity within a course. For online courses, MSU will determine LDA based on the last date a student made a contribution to the class or submitted an assignment. For face to face courses, the LDA is reported by the instructor on the grade report.
Once the LDA has been determined, MSU will recalculate the TA eligibility based on the following formula:
For 16-week Course Withdraw, if submitted:
Before or during weeks 1 – 4 = 100% return
During weeks 5-8 = 10% return
During week 9 = 10% return (60% of course is completed)
During weeks 10-16 = 0% return
For courses that have durations differing from the 16-week calculation above, if submitted:
Before classes begin through the quarter of the course = 100% return
From quarter of the course through 60% completion = 10% return
After 60% completion = 0% return