TASFAA Conference 2014 Dianne Cox, UTC Jeanne Hinchee, Chattanooga State Based on NASFAA Fall 2013 Training Compliance and Campus Collaboration – R2T4

 Terminology and General Principles  Possible Pitfalls in Working with Modules  Hands-on R2T4 Calculations 2

Determine student’s withdrawal date Calculate percentage of payment period or period of enrollment completed Determine amount earned by applying percent completed to total Title IV aid disbursed and that could have been disbursed Decide if earned funds are due to the student through a Post-Withdrawal Disbursement; obtain permissions and credit as allowed Decide if unearned funds are due to Title IV programs, and whether they are due from the student or the school 3

 Return of Title IV funds – An institution is required to determine earned and unearned portion of Title IV aid when a student ceases enrollment prior to the planned completion date  Post-withdrawal disbursement – Amount paid to student as earned Title IV funds after R2T4 calculation is completed  Unearned funds – Funds that must be returned to appropriate Title IV program 4

 Withdrawal date – The withdrawal date is used to calculate the amount of earned and unearned funds  Determination of the withdrawal date is driven by whether the institution is required to take attendance 5

 Official withdrawal – Student begins school’s withdrawal process or provides notification he or she will withdraw, or both  Date of determination is the earlier of the two dates  Unofficial withdrawal – Date of determination is the date the school becomes aware the student has ceased attendance 6

 Required to take attendance – Can be required by an outside entity (such as an accreditor or state agency), or the institution itself.  Must use official attendance records  Could apply to a subset of students, or for a certain time period.  At schools required to take attendance – Date of determination should be no more than 14 days after the last date of attendance 7

 Student who actually received a disbursement of Title IV grant or loans funds or who met the qualifications for a late disbursement of Title IV funds [R2T4 does not apply to Federal Work-Study (FWS)]  If student never began attendance, R2T4 does not apply (all Title IV aid must be cancelled) 8

 Includes tuition and fees (required of all students in program)  Room and board, if contracted with the school  Books, supplies, materials, and equipment, if the student cannot reasonably get them anywhere besides from the school 9

 For students who withdraw from a trimester, semester, or quarter program – use payment period  For students who withdraw from a nonstandard term- based or non term-based program – School can choose to use either payment period or period of enrollment 10

 14 days – Institution required to take attendance must have a process to determine that a student withdrew no later than 14 days after last date of attendance  30 days – Institution must perform the R2T4 calculation and notify student of any grant overpayment or post- withdrawal disbursement  45 days – Institution must return Title IV funds 11

Modules are courses in a student’s program that do not span the entire length of the payment period or period of enrollment  Example: School has 14-week summer term, during which students can enroll in any or all of the following sessions:  Two 5-week sessions offered one after the other  A single 14-week session 12

Example, continued:  A student enrolled in one or both 5-week sessions is considered to be enrolled in a program offered in modules  A student enrolled in one 5-week session and the 14- week session is considered to be enrolled in a program offered in modules  A student enrolled in only the 14-week session would not be considered enrolled in a program offered in modules 13

 If student begins one or more modules:  but does not begin next module he is scheduled to attend and  does not provide written confirmation at time of withdrawal stating his planned attendance in a module beginning later in same payment period or period of enrollment;  he is considered to have withdrawn because he did not complete all the days he was scheduled to attend 14

 Under current regulations, completion of one course in one module in a term-based credit- hour program no longer means student has not withdrawn  NASFAA Handout includes R2T4 in modules decision tree 15

 Case Study 6 from 1314 FSA Handbook.  Thompson Hunter  School Profile: Academic Yr. = 2 semesters/32 weeks and 24 semester hours  Payment Period = 1 Semester  Fall Semester = 117 calendar days  Period Start Date = August 22  Period End Date = December 16  Institutionally scheduled break of 9 days from Saturday, November 19 through Sunday, November 27.  Attendance Taking Not Required 16

 Module start and end dates within the semester are: StartEnd August 22September 16 September 19October 14 October 17November 11 November 14December 16  Student is enrolled in 3 credit hours in each of the 4 modules.  COA Profile:Title IV Award Profile: Tuition & fees:$1200 for 12 creditsPell Grant: $2775/semester Books: $400/semester FSEOG: $1825/semester Room (contracted with institution): $1400/semester Board: $800/semester Travel & Personal: $800/semester 17

 Thompson completes first 2 modules.  On October 14, he indicates he will not attend the last 2 modules for the semester.  Step 1: Recalculate Pell Grant & SEOG eligibility for the semester:  Pell Grant – reduced to half-time award or $1388  FSEOG – recalculated using costs attributable to the first 2 modules. Based on a revised COA of $3600 and revised Pell Grant of $1388, remaining need is $2212. No change to FSEOG award. 18

 Step 2: R2T4 calculation  Use recalculated Title IV amounts.  Date of withdrawal = October 14  There is a scheduled break of 9 days within the enrollment period, so these 9 days must be subtracted from total calendar days (subtract breaks of 5 or more days) 117 days minus 9 days = 108 total days 19

For nonterm credit-hour programs:  If student makes progress at their own pace:  Ending date and number of days in payment period will not be same for all students  School must project an end date of the payment period based on student’s progress as of his or her withdrawal date; and  Use projected end date to determine the number of days in the payment period 20

 Schedule hours are used to determine % completed versus actual hours attended 21 # of clock hours student was scheduled to complete at withdrawal Total # of clock hours in period

Example: Student attended 1 st 30 class days in the semester WD on the 30 th day – last scheduled day of class Program hours = 6.5 hours a day On 4 different occasions, student only attended 2 hours each day Student’s actual hours = 177 Student’s scheduled hours = 195 (used in R2T4 calculation) 22

 Sample Student School Profile: Academic Yr. = 900 clock-hours/30 weeks  Payment Period = 450 scheduled clock-hours  Period Start Date = August 24  Period End Date = December 10  Institutional Scheduled Breaks = None  Attendance Taking = Required  Date Institution determined WD: October 3  Equals scheduled hours completed = 175 (28 days * 6.25 hrs)  Period Used in the Return Calculation = Payment Period COA Profile:Title IV Award Profile:  Tuition & fees:$1104/PPPell Grant: $2823/PP  Books & supplies: $ /PP Subsidized DL $1732 & Unsub $990 23

 Dianne Cox University of Tennessee-Chattanooga  Jeanne Hinchee Chattanooga State Community College