By Braeden Pelton
Sometimes the semester doesn’t always go as planned. Students have other obligations, stresses or important factors in their lives that require them to drop one or more classes. Whatever the reason may be, it can be difficult to withdraw from courses here at GRCC. Many students don’t know what the cut-off dates are for refunds, how the process works or how dropping a course can affect financial aid, scholarships, and grades.
So how do you drop a class at GRCC? Luckily, this part is simple, all you need to do is go to grcc.edu and find your way to the Add/Drop classes tab on your student portal. Once you’ve selected the drop option, the site will walk you through the rest of the process. If you need a detailed step-by-step explanation of the process, please see the article provided by the school support desk. You can also have a staff member assist you with this process at the front desk of the financial services office in Raleigh J. Finkelstein Hall.
If you do not withdraw via the website or front desk and stop attending classes, your instructor is required to contact the school after 14 consecutive days of absence. For an online withdrawal, your final recorded class day will be the day you dropped. If you stop showing up, the last day you attended will be recorded. Please note that this does mean that the professor has reported your absences and the school has removed you from the course.
Refunds for regular tuition are issued via Bankmobile Disbursements and will be issued so long as you have withdrawn within the class drop deadlines. GRCC uses Bankmobile, as such you have a list of different ways you may receive your refund, you can find out more info on this by visiting the Bankmobile Refund Page on the school page or visiting Bankmobile Refund Information site.
Deadlines differ between classes as the penalties are based on the percentage of calendar days (including weekends) after the start of the class. The school does recommend dropping classes before the end of the first week as you have less penalties at that point. Less than 5% will get you a full refund and less than 10% will allow you half of your money back. If you drop out after the 10% mark you will not receive a refund. You can check for these dates on the drop deadlines tab of your class if you check “View my classes” in the student portal. Generally speaking, your class starts on the first day of the term and lasts the whole semester. The deadlines would be 5%, Jan. 14, 10%, Jan. 20, and 70% March 22.
Please note that some of the college fees are non-refundable, you can view the list of these fees on the Paying Tuition and Refund Information tab of the school website. You can also see a list of appeals available for students withdrawing after the deadlines on this page. According to the page, any students who used Financial Aid must contact a Financial Aid staff member to see if their aid is affected. Contact a Financial Aid staff member if you pay tuition with aid to know if your aid will be affected as it is case by case.
Class credit is also affected by what class you’re taking and when it started. You can view these dates in the same spot as the refund dates in your “View my classes” tab. Generally speaking, if you drop before or the day of the class start date, the course will be stricken from your record. After the 10% calendar days mark the class will be marked as dropped. Once you’ve passed the 10% mark your course time will be recorded with a grade of W up until the final date to drop. You cannot drop a class after that class’ final withdrawal date.
As a student using a Federal Tuition Assistance program to pay, if more than 70% of your course was completed before dropping, no FTA program is required to provide a refund. The student and college will be responsible for returning any owed funds. If you still owe money to the school you must pay it. For further information, please see this form regarding the full set of guidelines along with the Returning Federal Funds page.
You may have your late withdrawal penalties waived if you qualify for a Late Semester Hardship Withdrawal. Qualifying situations include: emergencies whether it be physical or psychological, an unplanned deployment or employment change, loss of housing or dependence, among other reasons that may be discussed with the office of the associate dean of Student Success and Retention. Cut-offs for hardship withdrawals are Jan. 31 for fall, May 31 for winter, and Sept. 30 for summer. You can contact the office at antoinetteharrington@grcc.edu for further questions.
For additional information or questions, please visit the student enrollment office on the first floor of RJF, email enroll@grcc.edu, or call 616-234-4020.
Editor’s Note: If you know, or are a student who has dropped a class and had a different experience to the policies listed, I encourage you to contact The Collegiate on our Instagram, email us at collegiate@grcc.edu, or you can contact the reporter of this story at braedenpelton@email.grcc.edu.
