Introduction

This Business Process Analysis (BPA) and System Configuration document describes the functionality and configuration settings related to Return of Title IV (R2T4) in Regent Award. 

 This page defines the following associated with R2T4:

• Identifying Students for R2T4

• Automated and Manual R2T4 logic

• Post-Withdrawal Disbursements

• The school’s specific configuration of the following:

  • Data requirements

  • Communications

  • User roles

  • Documents

  • Tasks

Process Overview 

Title IV funds are 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 or ceases attendance, the student may no longer be eligible for the full amount of Title IV funds that the student was originally scheduled to receive. 

For term-based programs, students who drop below half-time but remain enrolled may become ineligible for funds. In these cases, no R2T4 is required if a student remains enrolled at least less than half time (LTHT).

When an institution is required to perform a R2T4, Regent Award provides the ability to calculate the return of Title IV funds through the R2T4 Wizard. This process ensures that the institution correctly calculates the amount of Federal student financial aid earned by the student and returns any unearned funds back to the Federal student financial aid programs. In some cases, the student will be required to return unearned Title IV funds. In addition, the Return of Title IV process may result in the student owing the school for unpaid tuition and fees or in the student being eligible for a post-withdrawal disbursement.

The Regent Award R2T4 Wizard adheres to the ten-step Federal process according to regulatory guidelines as well as COD reporting for disbursement, loan period and academic year adjustments.

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Identifying Students for R2T4

The SBL provides the withdrawal date for all withdrawn courses daily. This data is used as a basis for the R2T4 tasks described below in this document as well as the withdrawal date for the R2T4 Wizard. Refer to Academic Structure, for details regarding the course withdrawal date.

If the student receives an incomplete in all courses for the period, the SBL should provide the R2T4 node with the Date of Determination (DOD) and Withdrawal Date (WDD) in the event the grades in these courses are subsequently changed to unearned F’s, i.e. the student has not completed the course within the required timeframe.

When schools are using the R2T4 Automated Process, Regent Award is able to automatically identify whether or not a student requires an R2T4 if the student has a "Review R2T4" task and the appropriate configuration is in place. Refer to the R2T4 Automated Process below for additional details.

Determining the Percentage of the Period Completed to Include Modules

The percentage of the payment period completed is determined by dividing the number of calendar days the student completed (numerator) by the total number of calendar days in the payment period (denominator), which includes all days within courses used to determine financial aid eligibility for the term except for any institutional or student-level breaks of at least five consecutive days during those courses. 

Numerator:

• No change from pre-7/1/2021 functionality - includes all days the student was in attended courses excluding institutional or student breaks of 5 or more days in length or periods after course withdrawal when the student is not attending another course.

• For the Course Weeks that calculate the NUMERATOR

  • The number of attended days from the start of the course through the withdrawal date or if not withdrawn, through the end date, for every course in the R2T4 period.

  • If we have an attended course that has not ended as of the R2T4 Withdrawal Date, and it does not have a withdrawal date on the course, we need to count only the attended days of the course from the start date through the R2T4 Withdrawal Date. (RNA handles this - RNA will not count attended days for a course beyond the R2T4 Withdrawal Date.

Denominator:

• The denominator includes the days in courses that were used to determine financial aid eligibility, less any institutional or student-level breaks of 5 or more consecutive days.

  • If Pell is the only fund included in the R2T4 and the R2T4 Date of Withdrawal is after the student Census Date, include Program Applicable Census courses for which the student began attendance (Pell recalculation functionality).

  • If Pell is the only fund included in the R2T4 and the R2T4 Date of Withdrawal is before or on the Student Census Date, count all Program Applicable courses for which the student began attendance UNLESS the Course Withdrawal Date is before the the R2T4 Date of Withdrawal (Pell recalculation functionality).

  • If a Title IV fund other than Pell is included in R2T4, include:

    • All program applicable courses for which the student began attendance AND

    • All days in Program Applicable courses the student did not attend that have a Course Enrollment Date before the R2T4 Withdrawal Date, UNLESS

    • The non-attended course has a Course Withdrawal Date that is before the earliest Paid Direct Loan Disbursement date in the term. (These courses were excluded when enrollment status was checked at the time of first loan disbursement).

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Counting Breaks that are Adjacent to a Weekend

The R2T4 Wizard counts all calendar days in the R2T4 period between the earliest course start date through the latest course end date for the courses in which the student was enrolled at the time of the withdrawal date.

These are all considered instructional days, unless the break is greater than four consecutive days in length made up of one or more of the following:

• Institutional breaks

• Student breaks (LOA, CORE, and such)

• Breaks in enrollment between the last day of an enrolled course and the first day of the next course (break between modules)

• Weekends, for schools that indicate they do not have classes on weekdays

Any instance or combination of the above that is not part of five or more consecutive non-instructional days counts as an instructional day.

Per the “< 5-day gap override rule” every weekend would be counted towards the instructional day count unless there was a break in conjunction to it that made the gap five plus days long.

Any gap or break at the start or end of the period falls into the same “< 5-day gap override rule”.

For five-day breaks where the R2T4 period starts or ends on a weekend, those days would count towards the R2T4 instructional day count unless that gap was for five or more days.

Non-Attendance Taking

For students who officially withdraw, the official withdraw date must be entered. When a student withdraws without notification for schools that are not required to take attendance, Regent Award allows a user to automatically calculate the R2T4 at 50% to include the last date of academically related activity.  The last date of attendance at an academically related activity will be required for the withdrawal date.  

R2T4 Automated Process

Regent Award provides schools with the ability to auto-determine whether a R2T4 is required and if it is not required, Regent Award will auto-close the R2T4 as "Not Required" with a specified reason.  Schools can configure precisely when they want Regent Award to assess their students for "Not Required" R2T4s as a configurable offset of the Date of Determination.  Furthermore, R2T4s that are both fully earned and fully disbursed can be auto-"Finalized" by Regent Award. 

Refer to the Customer Zone Knowledge Base for additional details on Automated R2T4

SBL Data

 The SBL plays an important role in allowing Regent Award to automate R2T4s.  First, it is the existence of the R2T4 node within the SBL that triggers the "Review R2T4" task” to be created on a student's record.  Second, the Date of Determination that the student withdrew is required within the R2T4 node, and it's this date that all of Regent Award's configuration offsets use to determine when the various aspects of automation can occur for a given student.  The overall process flow to initiate R2T4 automation is as follows:

Required Tasks

The following tasks must be configured in a school's Task Setup as "Active" for proper processing of Automated R2T4s:

• Review R2T4

• Review R2T4 with Abbreviated Loan Period

• Review Automated R2T4

• Review Return from LOA or CORE

All R2T4 Automation will be dependent upon the existence of the "Review R2T4" task.  A school may also configure any one of several other R2T4 related tasks in order to identify students who may need to be considered for R2T4, but those additional tasks have no impact or functionality within the automated process.  Furthermore, the R2T4 Automation Process will auto-close the "Review R2T4" task once the R2T4 closed as either "Not Required" or "Finalized."  

The “Review R2T4 with Abbreviated Loan Period” task will be triggered when the Automated R2T4 Process determines that a nonterm student has an Abbreviated Loan Period somewhere within the academic plan, even if the Abbreviated Loan Period is not in the R2T4 period.  This will alert the school to a scenario when the R2T4 must be completed outside of Regent Award.  When a nonterm student meets this scenario, the “Review R2T4” task will be auto-closed, so as not to create duplicate tasks for a single student, therefore it’s recommended that a school configure the “Review R2T4 with Abbreviated Loan Period” task and the “Review R2T4” task with the same restrictions.  

The “Review Automated R2T4” task will be triggered when the Automated Process determines that a student needs to be manually reviewed by the end user.  That could be because:

• The system has not finalized the R2T4 because it's not configured to finalize any R2T4s with the R2T4’s result of No Action Needed, Refund, and/or PWD. The R2T4 will be placed in a Ready for Review status and the task's System Message will state that the R2T4 calculations are complete and ready for Finalization Review. 

• The task could also be triggered if the system has not finalized the R2T4 because the student is nonterm and in a short program or remaining period of study. In this case, the calculations in step 2 should be reviewed to ensure the proper period of enrollment is in use.  The R2T4 will be placed in a Ready for Review status and the task's System Message will direct the user to review the Period of Enrollment for accurate calculation.

• Finally, this task could be triggered if the R2T4 Status is "Error." If this occurs, the task's System Message will contain any Error text that was logged by Automated Process.

When the R2T4s that trigger the “Review Automated R2T4” task are Finalized, Regent Award will auto-close both the “Review Automated R2T4” task and the “Review R2T4” task for the Finalized R2T4.  Regent recommends that the “Review Automated R2T4” task and the “Review R2T4” tasks are configured in different Task Queues in order to call attention to them separately.

Finally, it' recommended that the school configure the “Review Return from LOA or CORE” task to track those students who do not return from a LOA or CORE within 7 days of the LOA or CORE end date, so they can be reviewed to determine if action is needed. Refer to Related Tasks for R2T4 for additional details below.

Automated R2T4 Logic

Regent Award can be configured to auto-determine whether an R2T4 is required and if it is not required. Schools can configure R2T4s that result in a “Refund”, “PWD” or “Fully Earned/ Fully Disbursed” to auto-"Finalize" by the R2T4 Automation Process.  Regent Award will auto close the R2T4 as "Not Required" with a specified reason.  Schools can control the amount of configuration at the Institution, Campus, or Program level in Regent Award. 

Schools can configure precisely when they want Regent Award to assess their students for R2T4s as a configurable offset of the Date of Determination.

Not Required Logic

When R2T4 Automation is in use (Identify Whether Potential R2T4 is Required = Yes), Regent Award's R2T4 Automation Process will assess students through a series of "checks" to determine whether or not the R2T4 can be closed as "Not Required."  Only those students with a "Review R2T4" task will be assessed.  The timing of each student's assessment will depend on the configuration "Offset from DOD for Evaluation of Not Required R2T4s."

The "Not Required" logic is as follows, and students are assessed through the tests in the order shown:

1. Does the student have two or more open "Review R2T4" Tasks for the same payment period?

• If yes, the automated process will exit here and provide messaging on the Process Log that states: "The student has two or more "Review R2T4" tasks, and therefore Regent Award was unable to determine which is valid for R2T4 Automation.  Please review the student."  Note that if the school closes the extraneous task(s), the next time the R2T4 Automation process is executed, it will evaluate the student through the checks again (as normal).

  • An R2T4 Template will not be created for this student and the "Review R2T4" task will remain "Open."

  • An Activity Log Entry will be logged.

• Else, move on to the next test.

2. Does the student have an Abbreviated Period on the Academic Plan?

• If the student is in a nonterm program during the R2T4 period AND has any Manual AY on their Academic Plan designated as an Abbreviated Loan Period (ALP), regardless of whether the ALP is in the R2T4 period, the automated process will exit here and provide messaging on the Process Log that states: "There is an Abbreviated Loan Period on the student's Academic Plan and no R2T4 template has been created.  Please review the student."

  • An R2T4 Template will not be created for this student 

  • The “Review R2T4” task for the student will be auto-closed and Regent Award will trigger the “Review R2T4 with Abbrev. Loan Period” task for this student.

  • An Activity Log Entry will be logged.

• Else, move on to the next test.

3. Did the student begin attendance in the R2T4 payment period?

• If the student has not begun attendance in the R2T4 payment period, the R2T4 will be closed as “Not Required” with the not required reason “Student did not attend this payment period.  Note:  If the school is using the Assume Attendance feature, and has provided at least one indication of attendance, we'll assume the student attended during the R2T4 period.

  • The “Review R2T4” task for the student will be auto-closed.

  • An Activity Log Entry will be logged.

  • Else, move on to the next test.

4. Did the student have Title IV for the R2T4 payment period?

• If the student has neither a Pell-eligible ISIR (with a transaction process date up to or equal to the Date of Withdrawal) nor Title IV awards that qualify for inclusion in the R2T4 calculation, for the R2T4 period, the R2T4 will be closed as “Not Required” with the comment “No Title IV eligibility for R2T4 period.”

  • The “Review R2T4” task for the student will be auto-closed.

  • An Activity Log Entry will be logged.

• Else, move on to the next test.

5. Does the student already have an R2T4 on the Payment Period?  

• If the student has an R2T4 in the same Payment Period, with a status of "Open" or "Reversed," with the same WDD as the WDD on the R2T4, do not auto-assess the student for another R2T4. Exit here and provide messaging on the output file that states "The student already has a Open/Reversed R2T4 with the same withdrawal date.  Regent Award was unable to determine if additional action is needed.  Please review the student."

  • An Activity Log Entry will be logged.

  • An R2T4 Template will not be created for this student 

  • The “Review R2T4” task for the student will NOT be auto-closed

• If there is a "Finalized" R2T4 in the same payment period, with the same Date of Withdrawal as the R2T4 Node, AND no NEW attendance was reported after the WDD, exit here and provide messaging on the output file that states "The student already has a Finalized R2T4 with the same withdrawal date.  Regent Award was unable to determine if additional action is needed.  Please review the student."

  • An Activity Log Entry will be logged.

  • An R2T4 Template will not be created for this student 

  • The “Review R2T4” task for the student will NOT be auto-closed

• ELSE, move on to the next test.

6. Did the student complete a CORE (commitment to return for a future PA course in the PP)? 

• For Nonterm:

  • For withdrawal dates before 7/1/21:

    • Did the student complete a CORE to return within 45 days after the end of the last course for which the student had attendance regardless if the course was withdrawn or not?

  • For withdrawal dates on or after 7/1/21:

    • Did the student complete a CORE to return within 60 days after the student ceased attendance?

• For Term:

  • For withdrawal dates before 7/1/21:

    • Did the student complete a CORE to return within the R2T4 term?

  • For withdrawal dates on or after 7/1/21:

For Term: Did the student complete a CORE to return during the term AND within 45 days after the end of the last course for which the student had attendance?

If either of the above checks is true, the R2T4 will only have to be completed if the student does not return as scheduled. 

Close the R2T4 as “Not Required” with the not required reason “Student confirmed future attendance in the payment period.”

The “Review R2T4” task for the student will be auto-closed.

An Activity Log Entry will be logged.

Note:  The "Review Return from LOA or CORE" task (if configured) will be assigned if a student does not return from a CORE as scheduled.  The R2T4 Automated Process will be re-initiated if Regent Award receives another SBL node for the student, which will trigger a new “Review R2T4” task.

If no, the R2T4 must be completed.  Move on to the next test.

If the R2T4 is assessed through the "Not Required" logic after the CORE End Date, the R2T4 will not auto-close for this check. The system will proceed to the next test.

Does the student have an Approved Leave of Absence (LOA) student break that includes the R2T4 "Not Required" assessment date? (today's date)

If yes, close the R2T4 as “Not Required” with the not required reason “Student is on an approved Leave of Absence.”

The “Review R2T4” task for the student will be auto-closed.

An Activity Log Entry will be logged.

If no, the R2T4 must be completed. Move on to the next test.

If the R2T4 is assessed through the "Not Required" logic after the LOA End Date, the R2T4 will not auto-close for this check. The system will proceed to the next test.

If the R2T4 50% Indicator is selected, the R2T4 will not auto-close for this check. The system will proceed to the next test.

Note: If an institution wishes to complete R2T4s when a student goes on an academic LOA, those LOAs should not be recorded in Regent Award.

Did the student return in the same PP in the same payment period before the R2T4 was finalized (return in the same term or in nonterm, within 45 days after the end date of the last course for which the student had attendance)? 

For term-based:

For withdrawal dates before 7/1/21:

Did the school send us an LDA on any course within the same term that was greater than the WDD OR

Did they provide an attendance (flag) in a course within the same term with a start date greater than the WDD?

For withdrawal dates on or after 7/1/21: Did the student return in the same term within 45 days of the end date of the last course for which the student had attendance?

Did the school send us an LDA on any course within the same term that was greater than the WDD and less than the last attended or withdrawn course’s end date + 45 days, OR

Did they provide an attendance (flag) in a course within the same term with a start date greater than the WDD and less than the last attended or withdrawn course’s end date + 45 days

For nonterm:

For withdrawal dates before 7/1/21: Did the student return in the same payment period within 45 days after the end date of the last course for which the student had attendance?

Did the school send us an LDA on any course in the same payment period that was greater than the R2T4 WDD  and not greater than the last attended/withdrawn course’s end date+45 days?

Did they send us an attendance (flag) in a course in the same payment period with a start date greater than the R2T4 WDD and not greater than the last attended/withdrawn course’s end date+45 days?

For withdrawal dates on or after 7/1/21: Did the student return in the same payment period within 60 days after the configured Ceased Attendance Date?

Did the school send us an LDA on any course in the same payment period that was greater than the R2T4 WDD  and not greater than the configured Ceased Attendance Date+60 days?

Did they send us an attendance (flag) in a course in the same payment period with a start date greater than the R2T4 WDD and not greater than the configured Ceased Attendance Date+60 days?

If either of the above checks is true, the R2T4 will be closed as "Not Required" with the not required reason "Student returned in the payment period after the initial WDD"

The “Review R2T4” task for the student will be auto-closed.

An Activity Log Entry will be logged.

If no, the R2T4 must be completed. The template will be created in an “Open” status.

Did the student successfully complete all required units for the program? (Applies to R2T4 with withdrawal dates on or after 7/1/21.) 

Are the Cumulative Units earned on the Academic Plan equal to or greater than the Required Units for the current program?

If the above check is true, the R2T4 should be closed as "Not Required" with the not required reason "Student completed program during the payment period".

If the above check is not true, move on to the next test

Is the student in a term program offered in modules (not subscription period) and have they successfully completed half of the term? (Applies to R2T4 with withdrawal dates on or after 7/1/21.) 

“Successful completion of half the term” is defined as:

Successful completion of courses containing at least 49% of the instructional days in the full term.

Courses in the module or modules are “Complete” and count toward “Progression”. 

Module or modules contain 49% or more of the days in the payment period (Number of days in the successfully completed courses (excluding institutional breaks of five or more consecutive days) (numerator) divided by the number of days in the term (excluding institutional breaks of five or more consecutive days AND all days between modules) (denominator).

OR;

Successful completion of coursework equal to or greater than the institution’s requirements for half time study in the student’s program.

“Successful completion” of coursework includes courses that are “Complete” and count for “Progression”. 

If either of the above checks is true, the R2T4 should be closed as "Not Required" with the not required reason: "Student is in a term program offered in modules and has successfully completed (([49% or more of the days in the payment period ([student’s actual calculated percentage])] or [coursework equal to or greater than half-time study in the program]) OR ([49% or more of the days in the payment period ([student’s actual calculated percentage]) AND coursework equal to or greater than half-time study in the program]))."

If either of the above checks are not true, the R2T4 must be completed. The template should be created in an “Open” status.

For the students whose R2T4 could not be closed as "Not Required," and for which an R2T4 template was created in an "Open" status, the R2T4 Automation Process will continue to assess these students each time Batch Packaging is executed.  If, at any point prior to the "Finalization" offset day, the student's data changes such that it now meets one of the "Not Required" tests, the R2T4 Automation Process will close the R2T4 as "Not Required" and log the appropriate "reason."  Otherwise, the R2T4 will remain "Open" until the "Finalization" offset day.

The first day that the student is assessed and the R2T4 template is created in an "Open" status, the process will log the message:  "The student's R2T4 was automatically created due to a Date of Determination provided on the SBL for {PaymentPeriod}."  On each subsequent day that the student's data does not change and the R2T4 template remains open, the process will log the message: "Existing R2T4 cannot be closed as "Not Required" or "Finalized."  No further action was taken on this record."

Auto- Finalization Logic

If the "Not Required" logic above is performed on an R2T4, but the R2T4 is not closed due to any of the "Not Required" checks, Regent Award will create the R2T4 template/worksheet and automatically complete the "top" of the R2T4 worksheet - the section titled "R2T4 Calculation Wizard."  Similar to current R2T4 functionality, all of the awards are pulled into Step 1 of the worksheet, the Step 2 Period of Enrollment is calculated, and the remaining steps of the Wizard are completed to perform all of the necessary R2T4 calculations to determine the R2T4 result.  The Status of the R2T4 will be "Open."

When the day arrives that the student's R2T4 can be considered for auto-finalization, (Offset from DOD to Auto-Finalize R2T4s value is set as a number of days after the student's Date of Determination), if the school has configured the "Types of R2T4s to Auto-Finalize" to include "Fully Earned/Fully Disbursed" R2T4s, the R2T4 Automated Process can consider the R2T4 for auto-finalization. 

The R2T4 Automated Process output will provide a message that states, "The student's R2T4 was automatically completed as "Finalized" because the student fully earned and was fully disbursed all Title IV Aid during [Payment Period].  Upon auto-Finalization, the "Review R2T4" task for the student will be auto-closed.

If a school only configures Regent Award to auto-finalize those R2T4s that result in a “Fully Earned/ Fully Disbursed” and once a R2T4 results in a refund or PWD,  Regent Award will update the status of these R2T4s to "Ready for Review," and generate a "Review Automated R2T4" task to bring these R2T4s to the user's attention for manual Finalization.  Upon manual Finalization, both the "Review Automated R2T4" task and the "Review R2T4" task for the student will be auto-closed.

If, for some reason, the R2T4 Automated Process cannot act upon a R2T4 - for example, some type of system or data error, Regent Award will update the R2T4 Status of these R2T4s to "Error," and generate a "Review Automated R2T4" task to bring these R2T4s to the user's attention for manual review.  Upon manual finalization, both the "Review Automated R2T4" task and the "Review R2T4" task for the student will be auto-closed.

Duplicate R2T4s

If a duplicate R2T4 record is received with the same Withdrawal Date as an existing R2T4 that is in a Finalized or Reversed status, Regent Award will not process it via the R2T4 Automated Process.  If a client identifies a case where an R2T4 needs to be reprocessed, this must be done manually.

Institutional Charges

While processing the R2T4, if the calculation has resulted in a required refund from the school (from Box K), the user may manually add the institutional charges in Step 5 of the R2T4 Wizard. Once a manually provided value has been entered, any updates made to this field, via the SBL, are disregarded by the R2T4 wizard.

Room, Board, Tuition, Other, Total Institutional Charges, and Outstanding Charges can be imported via the SBL. Total Institutional Charges can be provided as a single total which populates in Box L of Step 5 or Institutional Charges can be provided as itemized amounts, which populate in the Tuition, Room, Board, or Other fields within Step 5 of the R2T4 Worksheet. When Total Institutional Charges are provided on the SBL, Regent uses the total populated in Box L and ignores any itemized amounts provided. When itemized amounts are provided and Total Institutional Charges are NOT provided, Regent totals the itemized amounts and populates the calculated total in Box L. When both itemized amounts and Total Institutional Charges are provided on the SBL, all amounts display within Step 5, but Regent only uses the Total Institutional Charges provided. If a user enters an amount in Step 5 and selects "calculate", a validation message is presented stating that Regent Award will recalculate the modified amounts from the user inputs for the "new" Institutional Charges total. The user then has the option to cancel if they deem the total is incorrect.  

If Institutional Costs are provided on the SBL, but the R2T4 does not result in a "refund", the Institutional Cost elements still populate in Step 5 of the R2T4 Wizard, but they are not totaled, or used in the calculation. When an R2T4 results in a refund, but Institutional Charges have not been provided, Regent triggers the "Review Automated R2T4" task with a message stating Institutional Charges are needed in order to finalize the R2T4. Regent stops attempting to finalize the R2T4 until Institutional Charges are provided via the SBL or manually by the user. Once the Institutional Charges are provided, the "Review Automated R2T4" task auto-closes and Regent begins taking action to finalize the R2T4.

Extrapolating Nonterm R2T4 Payment Period End Dates

For nonterm credit-hour programs, Regent Award may optionally calculate projected end dates for the R2T4 Wizard. 

When configured, Regent Award will extrapolate dates based on the individual student's rate of successful completion in the R2T4 payment period. The calculations are based on the nonterm formulas detailed in the FSA Handbook.

The nonterm R2T4 Extrapolation Formulas will calculate and populate initial values for the following date fields in the R2T4 wizard: 

• Scheduled PP End Date

• AY End Date Override

• LP End Date Override

Regent Award will use those dates when reporting loan information to COD. Users with the appropriate permissions may also edit the dates.

Special Situations

• If a student is progressing faster than expected, Regent Award will use the minimum payment period length in weeks.

  • If the PP had a nonterm substantially equal program change (SE PC), the successful units are totaled across all programs in the payment period. Regent Award does not count transfer units toward the formulas.

• Regent Award applies the calculations and configuration settings using the current active program for the payment period.

• If a student is in a shortened remaining period of study, or a short program less than an AY in length, then the school may wish to manually adjust the dates. A permanent message appears on the R2T4 Wizard as a reminder.

Cancelling Ineligible Loan when Excluded for Nonterm

When a nonterm student has a loan in a payment period for a Finalized R2T4, Regent Award will process any required adjustments and then cease awarding both Payment Periods in the Academic Year. For example, an R2T4 might require that all loans be returned for a nonterm student withdrawing during the second payment period. The PP2 disbursements will be canceled, and Regent Award will also block awarding of any new loans for either payment period if the Finalized R2T4 remains in that academic year.

Regent Award will still allow any R2T4-related downward adjustments to be processed, and users with permissions may make other adjustments to the awards. The system may also cancel any Title IV aid excluded from the R2T4 calculations, depending on the configuration for "Auto-Cancel Excluded Title IV Disbursements for R2T4." See Auto Cancelation of Title IV Disbursement Excluded During the R2T4 Period below for additional details.

R2T4 Wizard Calculation

Regent Award pre-populates the R2T4 Wizard with the Title IV aid awards that have been originated prior to or on the withdrawal date and from the period for which the R2T4 is being calculated.  If the origination date is after the withdrawal date the Title IV aid awards are considered for the payment period for the which the R2T4 is being calculated.

Once the R2T4 is started, disbursements are blocked until the R2T4 is finalized unless the ‘Block Disbursements until R2T4 is Finalized’ field is unchecked by the User.

Step 1: Student’s Title IV Aid Information

The R2T4 Wizard displays the Title IV grants and loans the student was awarded, disbursed, considered Inadvertent Overpayments (IOP)and/or could have been disbursed as well as a summary of the funds calculation.

Step 2:  Percentage of Title IV Aid Earned

The R2T4 Wizard displays the percentage of Title IV the student earned using the course enrollment information provided by the SBL. Pre-populated dates may be overridden. This screen displays the student course information for reference. If these dates are changed by the user, the user should select ‘Calculate’ to update percentage on completion.

The percentage of the period of enrollment completed is pre-populated with the calculated percentage based on the withdrawal date and payment period end dates. The amount in this box may be overridden. 

For clock hour programs, the “Hours Scheduled to Complete” can be provided by the school on the SBL and “Total Hours in Period” will be populated in Regent Award via the configured program setup.  Both fields can be manually overridden by the user. This information should be housed in the institution’s SIS. As hours in the period may vary by institutions Regent Award does not automatically calculate this field. 

Step 3: Amount of Title IV Aid Earned

In step 3 of the R2T4 Wizard, the amount that the student can receive is shown. This amount is determined by calculating the percentage of the period completed by the amount of Title IV that was, or could have been, disbursed.

Step 4: Title IV Aid to be Disbursed or Returned

Step 4 of the R2T4 Wizard displays the amount that is eligible for post-withdrawal disbursement OR the amount of Title IV to be returned.

Step 5: Institutional Charges

While processing the R2T4, if the calculation has resulted in a required refund from the school (from Box K), the user must manually add the institutional charges in Step 5 of the R2T4 Wizard.

Step 6 – 10: Amounts of Funds to be Returned

The remaining steps of the R2T4 Wizard display the amounts of funds to be returned by the school and/or the student. Amounts in the R2T4 worksheet are available for inclusion in the R2T4 communication template.

Once the R2T4 is finalized, if the result is a refund, Regent Award adjusts the award to the new amount. The next export to COD/ EST process run for negative transactions will pick up the refund amount. 

Step 10: Return of Grant Fund by the Student

When the configuration option to "Automatically Return Grant Amounts in Step 10" at the Institution, Campus, and Program Level is turned on, Regent Award returns the amounts greater than $50 from Step 10 to their fund source once an R2T4 is finalized. These refunds are in addition to any Pell returned due to the Pell recalculation and/or any Pell/SEOG/TEACH identified for a refund by the R2T4 calculation. Regent itemizes the amount as an "overpayment" returned on behalf of the student as a new line item under Step 6 and returns the amount per the expected refund process. A new task to be configured, "R2T4 Grant Overpayment Calculated" will inform the user that a grant overpayment was calculated and was returned on behalf of the student. 

When the configuration option is turned off, Regent Award will NOT return these additional funds calculated from Step 10. An Activity Log Entry and an "R2T4 Grant Overpayment Calculated" task are triggered informing the user that an R2T4 Grant Overpayment was calculated and is due from the student. The user is expected to report the overpayment to the Department of Education for collection outside of Regent and close the related "R2T4 Grant Overpayment Calculated" task.  

Post-Withdrawal Disbursement

Regent Award has built-in logic that will determine whether a PWD is eligible to be offered to the student.  Once the determination is made that the R2T4 calculation results in a PWD, Regent Award will evaluate each individual PWD disbursement to determine if it can or cannot be offered to the student, and then automatically provide the result of that evaluation on the PWD tab.  The features described in this section apply to all R2T4s that result in a PWD, both automated and manual.

Do Not Offer Logic

Once Regent Award determines the disbursement is not eligible to be offered as a PWD, the "Do Not Offer" checkbox will be selected and the "Result Reason" will populate.  The following three "rules" are checked against each PWD disbursement, in the order listed.  If a PWD should not be offered due to one of these rules, additional rules will not be checked.

1. 30 Day Hold – 1st Time – PWD Direct Loan:

   1. If the student did not attend for a full 30 days prior to the WDD/DOD and is a first-time borrower, the disbursement is considered a 30-day Hold and will not be offered to the student as a PWD.

2. Second/Subsequent Disbursement – PWD Direct Loan:

   1. If a disbursement is a second or a subsequent disbursement for the loan, whether it's an IOP or non-IOP, regardless of which payment period in the AY it falls into, it cannot be offered to the student as a PWD.  A student can only be disbursed a second/subsequent disbursement if the student completed the payment period. 

3. Not At Least Half-Time for PP – PWD Direct Loan:

   1. The student did not attend at least Half Time Program Applicable and Remedial Attended Units for the PP (would apply to term only because nonterm is always considered fulltime) 

If Regent Award determines the disbursement is an eligible PWD fund, but the school does not wish to offer the disbursement as a PWD, the user must manually edit the PWD form and select the "Do Not Offer" checkbox and select "Other" from the "Result Reason" field. However, once the R2T4 has been finalized, the "Do Not Offer" checkbox and "Reason" fields are only editable if the user has permission to Edit Do Not Offer on Finalized PWD - see Permissions List.  If the "Do Not Offer" checkbox is selected, Regent Award will cancel/return the disbursement on the next BP/EST run.

Offered PWD Logic

When a disbursement is offered as a PWD (whether as an Inadvertent Overpayment (IOP) or a Non-Inadvertent Overpayment (Non-IOP), Regent Award will populate the "Actual Cancel Date" and the "Deadline for student and/or parent to respond" fields based on the "Offset to Establish Fund Auto-Cancellation Date" and "Offset to Establish PWD Response Deadline" if configured by the school.

If the appropriate PWD documents are configured, Regent Award will generate a single document requirement if the student has Subsidized/Unsubsidized/GradPLUS Direct Loan PWDs as well as a single parent document if the student has ParentPLUS Direct Loan PWDs.

The documents should be configured as follows:

• "Student Post-Withdrawal Disbursement Offer"

  • Document Use: "Facilitate PWD Response"

  • Scope: Payment Period

  • Packaging Assignment: Subsidized/Unsubsidized/GradPLUS Direct Loan

  • "Allow Attachments" should be selected/checked.

  • "Enforce Scope Uniqueness" unselected/checked.

• "Parent Post-Withdrawal Disbursement Offer"

  • Document Use: "Facilitate PWD Response"

  • Scope: Payment Period

  • Packaging Assignment: ParentPLUS Direct Loan

  • "Allow Attachments" should be selected/checked.

  • "Enforce Scope Uniqueness" unselected/checked.

Once the documents are generated, both the Student and Parent document will appear to the Student on the portal, for use in the PWD acceptance process.

If the student accepts the PWD Disbursement, the user must edit the PWD form to enter an amount in the "Net Accepted Amount" field and update the "PWD Response Date" field with today's date. Once an amount is entered in the "Net Accepted Amount" and "PWD Response" fields, the "Actual Cancel Date" will be cleared and the disbursement will be paid on the next BP/EST run. If the student partially accepts the PWD Disbursement, the user is expected to update the "Net Accepted Amount" field with the amount accepted by the student and the "PWD Response Date" field with today's date. The "Actual Cancel Date" will subsequently be cleared. Regent Award will then modify the disbursement based on the amount entered in the "Net Amount Accepted" field and will disburse on the next BP/EST run. If the student declines the funds, the user is expected to update the "Actual Cancel Date" to today's date. The fund will be canceled on the next BP/EST run. If there is no response from the student before the "Actual Cancel Date", the disbursement will be canceled, and the adjustment will be made on the next BP/EST run.

Regent Award stops evaluating PWDs for changes when more than 180 days have passed after the Date of Determination. For example, if the Date of Determination is January 1, 2019, the system will still process PWD changes through June 30, 2019. On July 1, 2019, the system would stop considering PWD changes and the PWD would become uneditable. If any changes are needed more than 180 days after the Date of Determination, those changes must be processed outside of the PWD worksheet. Regent Award will still allow a user to Reverse a Finalized R2T4 regardless of how many days have passed.

Inadvertent Overpayments

An Inadvertent Overpayment (IOP) is a disbursement that occurs at a time when the student is no longer enrolled and is thus ineligible for a disbursement. For example, the student withdrew on Friday and the disbursement posted Monday prior to notification of the withdrawal. Regent Award provides two options for identifying a disbursement as an IOP: Date of Determination (DOD) and Withdrawal Date (WDD). When the school takes attendance, the WDD is typically the preferred option. Regent Award also provides an option for whether the disbursement is considered an IOP on or after OR only after the date used to identify the disbursement as an IOP.  The school’s “Date Used to Identify R2T4 Inadvertent Overpayments” configuration setting on the Institutional Setup will determine what the R2T4 Wizard considers an IOP.

In the event the disbursement release is identified as an IOP, the disbursement is included as an inadvertent overpayment in the R2T4 Wizard. These are treated as “could have been disbursed” in the R2T4 formulas. Because of this, if the inadvertent overpayment is calculated as “earned” the IOP will appear on the PWD tab.

Any remaining inadvertent overpayments, not included as a PWD, are cancelled and returned to their fund programs on the next EST after R2T4 finalization. The award amounts for the R2T4 period are reduced to exclude these returned inadvertent overpayments when the R2T4 is finalized. Any Title IV awards not included in the R2T4, e.g. a loan originated after the withdrawal date, must be manually canceled unless ‘Auto Cancelation of Title IV Disbursements’ is configured.  Refer to the Auto Cancelation of Title IV Disbursements section in this document.  Award amounts on the Academic Plan for the R2T4 period already disbursed and not refunded (plus any PWD amounts) are locked to prevent repackaging from increasing the awards until the R2T4 is reversed.

R2T4 Reversal

Nonterm Programs

When a student withdraws and returns to the same program within 180 days, the R2T4 must be reversed manually using the R2T4 Wizard, and the student retains his/her original eligibility for the same period as though attendance did not cease.

Regent Award provides the ‘Review Re-entry LT 180 days’ task to identify nonterm students returning within the 180-day window. Once the R2T4 is reversed, the type and amount of aid for which the student was eligible before the student ceased attendance will be re-instated. A new scheduled disbursement will be created when the student is packaged, and the scheduled dates will align with the configured disbursement schedule. Once the student has met the disbursement requirements, the funds will be released.

Regent Award extends the period to accommodate the period of non-enrollment. The R2T4 reversal record is maintained in Regent Award in a unique record in the database and accessible on the R2T4 screen.

Term-Based Programs

When a student withdraws from and returns to a term-based program, the student returns to a new term and therefore the R2T4 should not be reversed. If a student withdraws and returns to the same term from which he/she withdrew, the R2T4 should be reversed.

A new scheduled disbursement will be created when the student is packaged and the scheduled dates will align with the configured disbursement schedule. Once the student has met the disbursement requirements, the funds will be released.

Auto Cancelation of Title IV Disbursement Excluded During the R2T4 Period

Regent Award has the capability to automatically cancel Title IV disbursements for a R2T4 period that are excluded from the R2T4 calculation, except for Federal Work Study. If this setting is enabled, disbursements in the R2T4 award period, that are in a scheduled status and excluded from the R2T4 calculation will be cancelled and disbursements in a paid status will be refunded.  

This function may also be accomplished manually in the R2T4 Wizard by users with the appropriate permissions on a student-by-student basis.  Immediately after the R2T4 is finalized, Regent Award will automatically cancel scheduled awards.  Paid disbursements will be refunded once the EST/ COD process is completed.  

When a finalized R2T4 is reversed, Regent Award will reinstate previously auto cancelled Title IV disbursements for the payment period if the student is eligible for those awards/ disbursement upon their return to school.

Related Tasks for R2T4

Regent Award provides several tasks to identify students that need to be evaluated for R2T4. These tasks are triggered from data provided in the SBL and, if configured, restrict packaging and disbursement until completed or closed. The user should not complete the task until the R2T4 has been finalized or it is determined that an R2T4 is not necessary. This measure prevents potential changes to awards while the R2T4 is in process. Once the R2T4 is finalized, the task status should be changed to ‘Completed’, ‘Closed’, or ‘Waived’.

Regent Award also provides a task triggers delay for specific R2T4 tasks configured at the institution level.  These options suppress these R2T4 tasks from firing immediately upon receipt of SBL course withdrawal data, allowing time for the student to re-enroll in replacement courses. This functionality prevents the task from triggering during periods of normal enrollment fluctuation.

Configuration

Data Requirements

Refer to the SBL Data Dictionary for configuration details related to R2T4.

Communications Template

Refer to the school’s Client_Communication_Setup_Template for configuration details for the following standard Communications for R2T4.

Users & Roles Template

Refer to the school’s Client_UserRoles_Setup_Template for configuration details related to R2T4 permissions.

Documents Template

Refer to the school’s Client_Document_Setup_Template for configuration details for the following standard document related to R2T4.

Additional Configuration

Institutional Settings

The institution setup in Regent Award is configured with default setting for the R2T4 by primary type (most frequent) offered by the institution. Refer to the EnterpriseSetup_Template for default setting selected by the school.

 R2T4 Automated Settings