Does the student need to return the scholarship and grant ?
Say if the total cost to attend a college is $30K/semester, a student receives $10K scholarship, $10K grant (government and college), the out of pocket expense for the student will be $10K, but if the student were to withdraw due to medical reason, will the student responsible for the $30K or the $10K?
If your chuld covers from a chronic medical condition, it may be in your best interest to purchase tuition insurance that will cover some of your out of pocket costs. There may be school specific policies as far as what needs to be repaid.
Start here
https://ifap.ed.gov/qahome/qaassessments/returntivfunds.html
Even if the money does not have to be refunded, the student has used the aid, which may mean less money, when student may need extra time to complete the degree upon return.
@kelsmom may be able to answer how this is handled
Check the school’s policies. We had a friend whose child had an issue just before Thanksgiving one year. They requested, and we’re granted, a medical withdrawal. They didn’t have to repay any grants. If they’d taken a loan they’d still be responsible for that because they didn’t have tuition insurance. But the medical withdrawal was important because it canceled the semester grades.
First, the financial consequences depend on the timing of the withdrawal. If during the add-drop period when refunds are possible (often prorated) you can get money back and don’t have to repay grants and scholarships.
Then there is also a deadline for “withdrawal.”
Beyond those deadlines, schools that have enough endowment seem to have medical withdrawal policies that prevent those who withdraw from having to repay the grants and scholarships.
Schools that don’t have the resources seem to charge for any financial aid given. So that even if you paid nothing for school, due to financial need, you are required to essentially pay back much of the tuition.
With tuition refund insurance, the opposite happens. Your refund,in our experience, not only includes what you actually paid but also grants and scholarships (financial aid ). So you could pay nothing at the outset but get $20k outright.
Also check about room and board…tuition may be prorated but room and board may not be.
google Medical withdrawal and it will have the details for your college.
For example, for TCNJ: https://studentaccounts.tcnj.edu/tuition-fees-archive/tuition-fees/tuition-refund-and-repayment/
But this is a good case for tuition insurance (make sure it covers pre-existing conditions if that is a concern)