Attendance & Withdrawal
Attendance & Participation (Academic Engagement)
To receive financial aid, students must do more than just register for classes – they must also participate in each course in a way that meets federal requirements. At Massasoit, participation is measured by academic engagement, which refers to meaningful involvement in academically related activities.
Instructors are required to verify academic engagement before financial aid can be disbursed. This applies to all courses, whether they meet in person, online, by video conference, or in a hybrid or modular content.
Examples of academic engagement include:
- Attending scheduled classes, lectures, labs, or fieldwork, either in person or online, by video conference, where there is interaction with the instructor
- Submitting assignments
- Taking quizzes or exams
- Joining class discussions or group projects
- Participating in online tutorials, webinars, or computer-based learning activities
- Communicating with the instructor about course material
The following do no count as academic engagement:
- Logging into an online class without doing any coursework or participating
- Meeting only with an academic advisor or counselor without doing any coursework
Academic engagement is required in each course to be considered enrolled for financial aid purposes. Simply being registered or physically present without participating does not meet this requirement.
Massasoit reviews student participation early in each course to ensure compliance with federal financial aid regulations. Faculty report students who have not engaged in any academically related activity during a designated reporting period, which occurs shortly after the course begins and varies based on course length.
If you are reported as not having participated in a course:
You will be dropped from the course.
Your cost of attendance and financial aid eligibility will be reevaluated based on your updated enrollment.
Tuition and fee charges for the course may be removed from your account.
Courses where participation cannot be confirmed may not count toward your enrollment status for financial aid purposes. This may result in a reduction or cancellation of your financial aid based on your updated enrollment, and you may be responsible for any resulting balance due to the college.
If you begin a course but stop participating later in the term, your financial aid may still be adjusted based on your last date of participation, and you may be responsible for any resulting balance.
Participation-related course drops are only processed during the designated reporting window at the beginning of each course. After this period, students who no longer wish to remain enrolled must officially withdraw themselves.
Instructors may continue to report a student’s last date of participation through the end of the term, including when final grades are submitted. This information may be used to determine financial aid adjustments if a student stops participating in one or more courses.
Your Federal Pell Grant eligibility is based on the number of eligible credits you are enrolled in as of the financial aid census date. This is the last day you can add a full-term class with instructor permission.
If your enrollment changes before the census date—for example, if you drop a course or are reported as not having participated—your Pell Grant will be adjusted or canceled. Courses you never participated in or stopped attending before the census date will not count toward your enrollment status for Pell Grant purposes.
To be included in your enrollment status for Pell Grant eligibility:
You must be registered for the course by the census date.
You must be actively participating in the course.
If you add a class after the census date, it will not count toward your Pell Grant eligibility, even if it is a full-semester, accelerated session course, or Summer Session II class, as there is a single census date for each term. However, added courses may still be considered for other types of aid, such as federal student loans or free community college programs like MassReconnect and MassEducate.
Census dates by term:
Fall 2024: September 17, 2024
Spring 2025: February 4, 2025
Summer 2025: May 31, 2025
Students who begin attendance and fully withdraw before the census date may be eligible for limited post-withdrawal disbursements in accordance with federal and state regulations.
Classes added after the census date may be included in a student’s Pell Grant enrollment on a case-by-case basis if there are extenuating circumstances that caused a delay in registration. Examples include directed study registration, retroactive registration authorized by a Dean or other campus official, section changes, or registration delays due to weather or school closure.
Late registration for modular or accelerated session classes after the census date will not be considered a valid extenuating circumstance. These classes will not be eligible for additional Pell Grant funds but may be considered for state grant funding or federal student loans.
Students who plan to take a course at another institution must submit a completed Consortium Agreement to the Massasoit Financial Aid Office prior to the census date for those credits to be included in a student’s Pell Grant enrollment.
Students who apply for financial aid after the census date will have their Pell Grant eligibility determined based on their enrollment as of the date Massasoit receives their FAFSA. Eligibility for other funding will be based on enrollment status at the time of award and on available funding.
- Students may be eligible to receive financial aid retroactively for completed terms within the award year if otherwise eligible. However, Pell Grants may only be awarded retroactively based on eligible credits completed during the term, including credits for courses in which the student received an earned F or an Incomplete, as long as the Incomplete is not later converted to a failing grade due to non-submission of required coursework.
However, Pell Grants may only be awarded retroactively based on eligible credits completed during the term, including credits for courses in which the student received an earned F or an Incomplete, as long as the Incomplete is not later converted to a failing grade due to non-submission of required coursework.
Before dropping or withdrawing from a course, it is important to understand how the change may impact your financial aid. Depending on your enrollment, participation, and timing, financial aid eligibility may be adjusted, and you may be responsible for repaying funds or covering your remaining balance.
Key rules to keep in mind:
- Federal student loans require enrollment in at least six financial aid-eligible credits. If enrollment drops below six credits before the loan is disbursed, the loan will be canceled.
- Free community college programs such as MassReconnect and MassEducate also require at least six financial aid-eligible credits. If enrollment falls below this threshold, eligibility may be lost.
- Census Date Policy. Federal Pell Grant eligibility is based on enrollment as of the published census date. Dropping classes prior to the census date may result in a reduced Pell Grant award based on enrollment intensity.
- 60 Percent Attendance Rule. If a student withdraws from all eligible classes before completing 60 percent of the term, financial aid eligibility must be recalculated under federal and state refund policies. This may result in the loss of some or all aid, and the student may be required to repay funds. For more information, visit the Return to Title IV (R2T4) page.
- Official versus Unofficial Withdrawal. Students who stop attending without formally withdrawing may be considered unofficially withdrawn. This can affect aid eligibility and result in a balance owed. See the sections below for more information.
- Impact on Future Aid Eligibility. Withdrawing from classes may affect Satisfactory Academic Progress (SAP), which requires students to complete a minimum percentage of attempted credits.
If you are considering dropping a course or withdrawing from the semester, contact the Financial Aid Office before making any changes to understand how your aid may be affected.
If you officially withdraw from Massasoit, the date used to determine your financial aid eligibility will be the earliest of the following:
The date the Registrar’s Office receives your official withdrawal request.
The date you notify a Massasoit staff member acting in an official capacity of your intent to withdraw.
The last date you participated in an academically related activity in any course, as reported by your instructor(s).
This date is used to calculate how much financial aid you are eligible to retain. If you received more aid than you earned, you may be required to repay a portion of your financial aid.
Instructions for how to officially withdraw are available on the Registrar’s Office page.
For more information on how official withdrawals may affect your aid, visit the Return to Title IV (R2T4) page.
If you stop attending all of your classes without officially withdrawing, or if you fail to earn a passing grade in any course during the semester, you will be considered an unofficial withdrawal for financial aid purposes.
In these cases, the date used to determine your financial aid eligibility will be the later of the following:
The latest documented date of academic engagement in any course.
The midpoint of the semester, or the midpoint of your scheduled courses if you were enrolled in accelerated or modular classes, if no academic engagement can be documented.
In situations where you are unable to notify the college or complete the withdrawal process due to circumstances beyond your control, such as serious illness or emergency, Massasoit may use an earlier withdrawal date that more accurately reflects when you stopped attending. This must be supported by documentation and will be determined in accordance with federal regulations.
For more information on how unofficial withdrawals may affect your aid, visit the Return to Title IV (R2T4) page.
Below are some frequently asked questions about how your financial aid can be affected by dropping or withdrawing from courses.
What happens to my financial aid if I drop some, but not all, of my classes during the 100% refund period?
If you drop a class during the 100% refund period and it is removed from your transcript, it will not count toward your enrollment for federal, state, or institutional financial aid purposes. Your aid may be reduced or canceled to reflect your updated enrollment. This could affect your eligibility for programs like the Pell Grant, student loans, MassReconnect, and MassEducate.
What happens to my financial aid if I drop some, but not all, of my courses after the 100% refund deadline or census date?
If you drop a course in which you had already participated after the census date, the class will still count toward your enrollment for financial aid purposes, and in most cases, your aid will not be affected.
However, if dropping the class brings you below six eligible credits and you have a student loan that has not yet disbursed, the loan will be canceled.
What happens to my financial aid if I withdraw from all of my courses, stop attending before completing the semester, or do not complete all modules for which I registered?
Federal and state regulations assume that financial aid recipients will complete the entire period for which aid was awarded. If you withdraw from all courses or do not complete all parts of a term you were scheduled to attend, your financial aid will be recalculated based on your last date of participation. If no participation can be confirmed, the midpoint of the semester may be used.
This recalculation, known as a Return to Title IV (R2T4) or a state refund calculation, may result in the loss of some or all of your financial aid. You may be required to repay funds, and you will be responsible for any balance owed to the college.
Is Massasoit Community College required to recalculate my financial aid eligibility if I withdraw from all classes?
Yes. If you withdraw from all courses before completing at least 60% of the term, your aid must be recalculated using a prorated formula to determine how much of your financial aid you earned.
For example, a student who withdraws in the second week will have earned less aid than a student who withdraws in the fifth week. Once you have completed more than 60% of the term, you are considered to have earned 100% of your aid, and no repayment is typically required.
What if I don’t earn any passing grades for a term in which I received financial aid?
If you do not officially withdraw and fail to earn a passing grade in any full-term class, and no instructor confirms participation beyond the 60% point of the semester, Massasoit must assume that you unofficially withdrew. Your aid will be recalculated based on the last date of participation reported, or the midpoint of the term if no date is available.
How will my tuition and fee charges be impacted if I withdraw from or drop a course?
Tuition and fee charges are adjusted based on the published Deadline & Refund Schedule.
If you drop a class during the 100% refund period, you will not be billed for the course. If you drop a class after this deadline, you will still be responsible for tuition and fees. Dropping classes may also reduce your Cost of Attendance, which can affect your eligibility for certain types of aid.