Automated Refund Calculation Review

You can use this form to review the refund calculations related to the automation functionality for Return to Title IV (R2T4) and Institutional Refund (IR) calculations.

Administrators can configure the number of days before the regulatory elapsed time frame fields to schedule the execution of the R2T4 and IR jobs, so calculations can be created on the operational schedule that the institution has identified.

The default for this field is 45 days, but administrators can reduce this number to create an earlier cutoff for processing refunds. The Automated Refund Calculation job will run within the time frame established by these two settings. Adjusting either setting simply shortens the window in which the refund calculation is picked up by automation.

The official Department of Education Clock Hour R2T4 Worksheet can also be used with Program Versions delivered as Clock Hour Programs.

The Automated Eligibility feature evaluates the scheduled award year funds using the automated awarding initial feature Disbursement Eligibility Rules and Disbursement Approval Criteria against the Application Processing data. The 2nd disbursement and any subsequent Federal Direct Loan disbursements that are received and paid after the LDA and before the Withdrawal date by an institution within the current payment period are considered an inadvertent overpayment. They will be recorded within the "Could Have Been Disbursed" column in Step 1 of the R2T4 calculation. These disbursements are scheduled as a refund for the total ineligible amount received to be sent to COD when a student has withdrawn and has not graduated or completed the Loan Period.

Automated Refund Calculation Job Details

When multiple disbursements are refunded via the Automated Refund Calculation job, those refunds are associated with the correct term or payment period, based on the disbursement's original term. Whether the disbursement is from a prior term/payment period or the disbursement is from a future term/payment period, when both are paid within the current term/payment period using Return to Tile IV calculations, the refunds are posted to that specific disbursement's term/payment period.

Each refund associated with a single disbursement is refunded individually so that refunds are not combined for similar fund sources.

When the Automated Refund Calculation job runs, the system calculates the sum of the total number of days and the number of completed days in a given module attended by a student within a Non-SE9W payment period. Both totals are displayed in the Return of Title IV Funds (R2T4) worksheet.

A module is a period of time where classes are scheduled that is within a Non-SE9W payment period using a class schedule. Modules with no scheduled coursework in the payment period for total days are included in the calculation. Modules in the future where the scheduled coursework was dropped before the withdrawal date in a payment period for total days are included as well. The total number of days and number of Days Completed are also provided on all current Automated Refund Calculation reports.

The system counts the total number of days and number of Days Completed in a payment period for modules being delivered concurrently as one distinct number and does not duplicate the count due to overlapping modules.

Running the Automated Refund Calculation Job Using a Freeze Date

When the Automated Refund Calculation job runs using a configured Freeze Date, the system calculates the total number of days scheduled for the term based on the courses registered before the Freeze Date. Any courses that are registered after the Freeze Date are not factored in.

The courses that are registered and applicable after the Freeze Date are counted as part of the total days amount since the student has now become eligible for additional Title IV loans based on the elevation in the enrollment status.

Automated Refund Calculation will only consider the Freeze Date for auditing purposes at the end of the term when:

1. The Freeze Date is after the module end date.

2. The Program is configured to use a Child Term Freeze Date but courses are delivered using an individual term.

   1. Automated R2T4 cannot find a child term. Therefore, the number of days will be considered as 0 and the term end date is taken as the Freeze Date for auditing purposes.

The Freeze Date options are:

1. Freeze Date period as

   1. None – Automated Refund Calculation will consider the term as having no Freeze Date, and hence the complete schedule will be factored in for Total Days calculation.

   2. Child Term/Modules – Automated Refund Calculation will apply the Freeze Date on the Child Term/Modules and the individual Child Term/Module will be factored in when a student has met the Freeze Date of that Child Term/Module.

   3. Term/Payment Period - Automated Refund Calculation will apply the Freeze Date on the Term/ Payment Period and the individual Term/ Payment Period will be factored in when a student has met the Freeze Date of that Term/ Payment Period.

2. Freeze Date Recurrence as

   1. Number of Days – This option will allow you to enter a Days value and will be used to determine the Freeze Date from the start of the Child Term/Modules or Term/Payment Period. The value zero in this field will represent the Freeze Date at the start of the term.

      Academic Calendar 1 Non-SE9W and Academic Calendar 6 – credit hour program, the Freeze Date configuration on the number of days will be applied to the Payment Period that is used for course registration. If Child Term/Modules are used, the number of days will be applied to the Start of the Payment Period.

   2. Add/Drop date – This option will follow the Add/Drop Date that is configured at the individual term.

      Academic Calendar 1 Non-SE9W and Academic Calendar 6 – credit hour program, the Freeze Date configuration on Add/Drop Date will be applied to the Term that is used for course registration. If no Add/Drop Date is found, the Freeze Date will be considered as NULL.

3. Days

The total number of days is determined based on the Freeze Date and:

1. The number of days completed factoring R2T4 calculation will be based on the course registration made at the time of the Freeze Date.

2. The number of days completed factoring R2T4 calculation will be based on the course registration made at the time of the Freeze Date and student attendance at least one day in the subsequent modules that are registered after the Freeze Date.

If the student:

• Registered and attended courses that have attendance posted after or before the Freeze Date (captured at the time of calculation), those courses will be considered for the calculation.

• Registered courses that factored enrollment status elevation after or before the Freeze Date (captured at the time of calculation), those courses will be considered for the calculation.

• Registered courses and no attendance was posted or not factored in the enrollment status elevation after or before the Freeze Date (captured at the time of calculation), those courses will not be considered for the calculation.

• Registered courses and no attendance was posted or not factored in the enrollment status elevation and the Freeze Date is marked as NONE, all courses within that Term or Payment Period will be considered for the calculation.

• Unregistered before the Freeze Date. those courses are not factored into the calculation

The Automated Refund Calculation process does not create a duplicate refund calculation for a payment period when one has already been created and the student has the same Last Date of Attendance (LDA), Date of Determination (DOD), and Withdrawal Date (WD).

Student Withdrawal Determination

Per new Department of Education regulations effective July 1, 2021, an Active student is considered Withdrawn based on any of the following conditions:

1. Student did not complete one or a combination of modules that includes 49% or more number of days in the payment period

2. Student failed to earn a passing grade

3. Student ceased attendance and failed to begin attendance in a scheduled course and

   1. Did not attend another course in the period

   2. Did not complete all the requirements for graduation

   3. Did not meet 49% with a passing grade only

   4. Did not register for courses within 45 days (term-based calendars) or in less than 60 days (non-term-based calendars) based on the program deliverable

      The system confirms if there are any courses registered with a status of Scheduled or Completed within 45 days (term-based-calendars) or in less than 60 days (non-term-based calendars) from the last day of attendance that is required by the institution that the student would need to confirm an official withdrawal and acknowledge the re-entry within 45 days. If no courses are found, the system determines whether a student has completed 49% with passing grades or achieved Half-Time coursework. If so, this is measured against their enrollment status and a confirmation is made if the student is eligible to receive additional Title IV Loans. The student’s R2T4 status will be set to "Not Required" for that period and the student will remain in the group. You are then responsible for removing this student from the group.

When any of the above conditions are not met, the student is treated as not Withdrawn during the Automated Calculation Review process and R2T4 is not needed. Hence the Title IV status for this student will be "Not Required". The FAA Determine R2T4 Withdrawal Select this setting to determine withdrawal based on July 2021 R2T4 guidelines. When this setting is disabled, all students within a group that is associated with a Refund Calculation Job are included for the refund calculation. For more details, see the “Automated Refund Calculation Review” topic. system setting needs to be enabled for this to occur (see General System Settings). When this setting is disabled, all students within that group are included in the refund calculation, bypassing the aforementioned logic.

Prerequisites

You must have:

• Common - Processes - View authorization

• Financial Aid Automation - Processes - Automated Refund Calculation Review - Cash Payment Plan - Resend authorization

• Financial Aid Automation - Processes - Automated Refund Calculation Review - Institutional Refund Calculation - Print, Save, and Update Policy authorization

• Financial Aid Automation - Processes - Automated Refund Calculation Review - Reassign, Unlock, and View authorization

• Financial Aid Automation - Processes - Automated Refund Calculation Review - Return of Title4 Calculation - Print and Save authorization

Access Method

Select the Processes tile > expand Financial Aid > select Automated Refund Calculation Review.

Procedure to Review Auto Refund Calculations

1. Under Search Calculations, specify the values.

   Campuses The campus or campuses to which a person or item is assigned. It is filtered to display the campuses to which you have access. In some cases, it is also used to filter a list to only those items for the campus. In some lists, you can select more than one campus or select All. In lists that display columns, if the column contains more than one campus, you cannot sort or filter on that column. Cash Payment Plan Status Current system status of the selected cash payment plan. These are: Sent for Approval, Approved, Not able to obtain, No Longer Needed, Not Requested, Not Sent, On File, Out for Approval, Portal Required, Received but Rejected, Required, Requested – not Required, Requested – Required, Sent. Date of Determination The date a student's enrollment status first becomes effective. From and To IR Refund Status Current system status of the selected Institutional Refund. These are: Approved, Exception, No Longer Needed, Not Required, Rejected, Review. Last Day of Attendance From and To Programs The name of the program. Programs are configured by your institution. Refund Status Current system status of the selected Automated Refund Calculation's only, this status is not applicable for manually created refund calculations through Student Accounts. The status values for Return to Title IV and Institutional Refunds include Approved, Exception, Exempted, No Longer Needed, Not Required, Rejected, and Review.

   Staff Groups The staff groups that can access the view. You can select more than one. Staff Members The specific staff member. Students The last and first name of the student. In some lists, the name of the student is highlighted. If it is highlighted, you can select the link and it will display the Student Profile or a page available from the profile (such as their Documents list in Contact Manager). To display the Student Profile, you must have Common - Student - View authorization. If the link takes you to a page available from the profile, you must have authorization for that page. For example, if it displays the Documents list, you must have Contact Manager - Student Document - View authorization. Student Status Specifies the status of the prospect or student at your institution. Statuses vary by institution. They are configured by your institution. If you change the status for a student, a dialog is displayed so that you can confirm the change. If there are also tasks associated with the previous status, Anthology Student displays a dialog that you can use to select the tasks to keep and the tasks to close with the result of canceled. Title IV Refund Status Current system status for the selected Title IV refund. These are: Approved, Exception, Exempted, No Longer Needed, Not Required, Rejected, and Review. Withdrawal Date Date student withdrew from a program. From and To

2. Select the Apply Filters button.

3. Review the Results list and the following values.

   Cash Payment Plan Current system status of the selected cash payment plan. These are: Sent for Approval, Approved, Not able to obtain, No Longer Needed, Not Requested, Not Sent, On File, Out for Approval, Portal Required, Received but Rejected, Required, Requested – not Required, Requested – Required, Sent. CP Assignment Method The member/group the Cash Payment Plan calculation record is currently assigned to (Staff Member, Staff Group, or FA Advisor). Days Since DOD How many days have elapsed since the student's Day of Determination (DOD). DOD The date a student's enrollment status first becomes effective. Freeze Date The Freeze Date used by the system to calculate the total days related to the refund calculation. IR Assignment Method The member/group the Institutional Refund calculation record is currently assigned to (Staff Member, Staff Group, or FA Advisor). IR Refund Current system status of the selected Institutional Refund. These are: Approved, Exception, No Longer Needed, Not Required, Rejected, Review. LDA The student's last date of attendance. Program The name of the program. Programs are configured by your institution. Program Version Code The alphanumeric code assigned to the item by your institution. In most cases, codes must be unique. Program Version Name The name of the program version.

   Refund Status Current system status of the selected Automated Refund Calculation's only, this status is not applicable for manually created refund calculations through Student Accounts. The status values for Return to Title IV and Institutional Refunds include Approved, Exception, Exempted, No Longer Needed, Not Required, Rejected, and Review. Refund Date Created The original date the refund calculation was displayed on the grid. Refund Date Modified The date any calculation was modified via an automated job or updated manually by a user. Refund Status Date The date of the currently listed refund status. R2T4 Assignment Method The member/group the R2T4 calculation record is currently assigned to (Staff Member, Staff Group, or FA Advisor). R2T4 Details Selecting the hyperlink displays the specific status as well as the Exempted reasons or Not Required reasons for that student's R2T4. For any student with a Refund Calculation in Review status or presented in Exceptions, no hyperlink is displayed. Note: This functionality is only applicable to Standard Term programs. Student Name The last and first name of the student. Student Number If your institution assigns student numbers, the number your institution uses to identify the student. How the number is assigned is specified by your institution. For example, Anthology Student can be configured to assign the number, or your institution can use another method to assign it. Student Status Specifies the status of the prospect or student at your institution. Statuses vary by institution. They are configured by your institution. If you change the status for a student, a dialog is displayed so that you can confirm the change. If there are also tasks associated with the previous status, Anthology Student displays a dialog that you can use to select the tasks to keep and the tasks to close with the result of canceled. Title IV Refund Current system status for the selected Title IV refund. These are: Approved, Exception, Exempted, No Longer Needed, Not Required, Rejected, and Review. Withdrawal Date Date student withdrew from a program.

   An "Automated Refund Calculation Activated" column will appear displaying Yes or No to show if the automated refund calculation is activated at the campus based on the process activation level.

   R2T4 contextual actions and how they impact IR actions and/or statuses

   If R2T4 is ...	then ...
   Review	IR can only be reviewed. IR action buttons will be disabled.
   Approved	IR can only be approved.
   Exception	IR will always be in Exception status.
   Exempted	IR only allows the user to Approve. The other action buttons are disabled, but an R2T4 status change can alter the IR status.
   No Longer Needed	IR will be in “No Longer Needed” status. IR action buttons will be disabled
   Not Required	IR only allows the user to select Approve, Reject, or "No Longer Needed", but the other action buttons are disabled. If the IR is updated to No Longer Needed, then the R2T4 will also be updated to No Longer Needed.
   Rejected	IR is in Rejected status as well.

   With the release of Regulatory US 24.3.0 along with the Student 24.2.0 release:

   Only when the R2T4 and IR statuses are in “Not Required” and/or “No Longer Needed” will you be able to go into the Student Accounts tile for that student and create a manual refund calculation.

   Before you approve a single calculation, R2T4 or IR, you should review both calculations to make sure both can be marked Approved. If the first calculation is marked as Approved and refunds are scheduled, the other calculation is Rejected. The system will present a message indicating that the prior calculation will also get rejected. This will then require you to manually remove any scheduled refunds or adjustments created from the prior calculation being Approved.

   With the release of Regulatory US 24.4.0:

   Automated Refund Calculation Review presents a warning message indicating that approving the R2T4 before reviewing the IR (regardless of the IR status), could cause unwarranted scheduling of refunds. The warning appears after the current message of untimely processing of a calculation, when applicable.

   "Warning: Please review the Institutional Refund calculation prior to approving the R2T4 because once the R2T4 is Approved, the status and refunds cannot be changed."

   If a student's R2T4 is calculated as 'Not Required', you can select that status in the Title IV Refund Current system status for the selected Title IV refund. These are: Approved, Exception, Exempted, No Longer Needed, Not Required, Rejected, and Review. column to display the specific reason for the "Not Required" status. The results can be:

   • Due to more than 49% earnings, the student's R2T4 is Not Required

   • Student is not active, or no Title IV funds have been found or Title IV payment made for the selected R2T4 period

   • Due to courses that are registered within 45 days or 60 days, the student's R2T4 is Not Required

   • Due to the completion of Half-Time coursework, the student's R2T4 is Not Required

4. Selecting the check box for one of the records in the list enables the following selections in the toolbar.

   Reassign Reassign a PDW Notification to a Staff Member, Staff Group, or Advisor.

   Unlock Unlock a PWD notification that has been locked by another staff member.

5. You can Reassign one or more Refund Calculations to another staff group, staff member, or advisor. To reassign a Staff Member, Staff Group, or Advisor to calculation:

• Identify one or more calculations that will receive the new staff member assignments by selecting the appropriate record's check box.

• Select Reassign in the toolbar. A popup appears listing the Selected Count of the items selected. At the bottom of the pop-up is a list box entitled "Assignment Method". You can select Staff Group, Staff Member, or Advisor. If you choose:

  • Staff Group, select the desired group from the Staff Group list and select Save Assignment.

  • Staff Member, select the desired individual from the Staff Member list and select Save Assignment.

  • Advisor, select either FAO Advisor or Other Advisor from the Advisor Type list. If you select Other Advisor, select the individual from the Other Advisor Group list. You can then select Save Assignment.

6. You can Unlock Refund Calculations that may have been locked by a staff member. If a staff member attempts to access a particular Refund Calculation that happens to be locked, a message will indicate that the item is locked. Locked calculations appear in the Results grid with a red lock icon on the left side of the locked calculation.

   To unlock Refund Calculations:

   • Unlock a single calculation by selecting the check box for the locked calculation. Then select Unlock in the toolbar.

   • Unlock multiple calculations by first selecting the check box corresponding to each of the locked calculations. Then select Unlock in the toolbar.

7. Select Print R2T4 Worksheet or Print IR Worksheet in the toolbar to print worksheets showing the calculations in the Results grid for Return to Title IV (R2T4) calculations or Institutional Refund (IR) calculations.

Continue with Manage Refund Calculation Records.