Reviewed & Updated: August 2025
Federal Financial Aid Refunds - Return of Title IV Calculation
A student recipient of Federal Title IV funds, referred to hereafter as federal funds or federal aid (i.e., Federal Pell, FSEOG, Federal Direct Loans or Federal PLUS loans), who is determined to have withdrawn from all courses before completing 60% of the term (see Return of Title IV 60% Completion Dates below) is subject to the Return of Title IV (R2T4) calculation. The R2T4 calculation is a federally mandated formula to determine how much federal funding was “earned” up to the time of withdrawal.
The Title IV funds that were disbursed in excess of the earned amount must be returned to the federal government by the school and/or student. If the student received a credit balance refund from federal funding, which was to be used for education-related personal expenses, the student may be required to return a portion of those funds to the school. This portion represents funds that were intended to pay education-related expenses through the end of the term. The amount to be returned to the school will be determined by considering institutional costs, refunds disbursed for non-institutional expenses, and the funds that must be returned to the government.
The amount to be returned to the federal government will be calculated using the date of official withdrawal from classes or, in the case of an unofficial withdrawal, the last date of academically related activity or successful completion of
a course. Note that the student may be subject to R2T4 if all enrolled courses are completed prior to the scheduled end of the term. An official withdrawal occurs when a student follows the published process for withdrawing from the school prior to the end of the term.
To determine the amount of aid earned, Nicolet College’s Financial Aid Office will determine the percentage of the term attended. The percentage used to determine the return of federal funds is equal to the number of calendar days remaining in the term divided by the number of calendar days in the term. Scheduled breaks of more than five consecutive days are excluded. The resulting percentage is then used along with institutional costs and total federal funds that you received (funds that were disbursed directly to the student account and possibly refunded) or that you were eligible to receive, to determine the amount of aid that you are allowed to keep. However, anytime a student begins attendance in at least one course but does not begin attendance in all the courses that the student was registered to attend, regardless of whether the student is considered to have withdrawn, Nicolet College must reassess the student’s eligibility for Pell grant and campus based funds based on a revised enrollment status and cost of attendance.
Any unearned Title IV aid must be returned to the federal government within 45 days of the date of the determination of the withdrawal. Nicolet College’s Financial Aid Office will notify the student with instructions on how to proceed if the college or student are required to return federal funds. Any funds returned to Nicolet College after the Return of Title IV Aid calculation is completed and processed are then used to repay Nicolet College funds, state funds, other private sources, and the student, in proportion to the amount received from each non-federal source, as long as there was no unpaid balance at the time of withdrawal. All aid sources are repaid before any funds are returned to the student.
Funds that are returned to the federal government are used to reduce the outstanding balances in individual federal programs. Financial aid returned by the student and/or your parent or the school must be allocated in the following order:
Federal Unsubsidized Direct Loan
Federal Subsidized Direct Loan
Federal Direct Parent Loan (PLUS)
Federal Pell Grant
Federal Supplemental Educational Opportunity Grant (FSEOG)
Federal TEACH Grant (Nicolet College does not administer the TEACH Grant program)
A student may be eligible for a post-withdrawal disbursement if, prior to withdrawing, the student earned more federal financial aid than was disbursed. If a student is eligible for a post-withdrawal disbursement for federal funds, it will be processed for the student and a refund will be issued within 14 days of the credit balance.
If the post-withdrawal disbursement includes loan funds, Nicolet College must get the student’s permission before it can disburse the loan. Students may choose to decline some or all of the loan funds. A notice will be sent out to the student and must be returned to the school within 14 days.
Nicolet College may automatically use all or a portion of the post-withdrawal disbursement of grant funds for tuition and fees. However, the school needs the student’s permission to use the post-withdrawal grant disbursement for all other school charges. If the student does not give permission, the student will be offered the funds. However, it may be in the student’s best interest to allow the school to keep the funds to reduce the student’s debt at the school.
It is also important to understand that accepting a post-withdrawal disbursement of student loan funds will increase a student’s overall student loan debt that must be repaid under the terms of the Master Promissory Note. Additionally, accepting the disbursement of grant funds will reduce the remaining amount of grant funds available to the student for future educational pursuits.
Official Withdrawal
The official withdrawal date is defined as the date the student formally initiates the withdrawal process with Nicolet College .
Unofficial Withdrawal
If a student receives either all “F” grades or a combination of “F” or “W” grades for a term, they may be considered an unofficial withdrawal. If a student receives all “F” grades for a term but participated in at least one course throughout the entire term and is determined to have “earned” the grade of “F”, the student will not be considered an unofficial withdrawal and no aid will be returned.
The student’s last date of course participation or latest course completion date will be considered the withdrawal date used to calculate the R2T4 calculation.
For courses offered in modules, a student is not considered to have withdrawn if Nicolet College obtains written confirmation that the student will return to complete a later module within the same payment period or period of enrollment no later than 45 calendar days after the end of the module that the student ceased attending. Previous enrollment in a later module does not constitute written confirmation.
No Shows
If the student received federal financial aid and failed to academically engage in any or all of their courses, they are considered a “no show” for the course(s) they did not begin. “No shows” must repay in full any Federal Pell Grant funds that were received for those courses. (usually don't return loans if eligible at time of disbursement)