According to federal regulations¹, an institution must have a procedure for determining whether a Title IV recipient who began attendance during a period completed the period or should be treated as a withdrawal.

Online Class Grading² requires instructors to enter a valid grade for all students officially enrolled in their class. In the event the instructor fails to meet the Online Class Grading deadline for the term, the Registrar's Office will automatically post an "NG" for those students.  According to Registrar Policy a NG is not a grade and will be referred to in this publication as a mark.  The NG mark is noted on grade reports and official transcripts until the instructor submits a valid grade to replace the NG.

Though the Registrar’s Office does establish a per-term deadline for faculty grade submissions, a small percentage of full class sections and students within class sections are not awarded standard grades by this deadline.  Of this group of initially “non-graded” classes/students, the Registrar’s Office receives grades from the instructors for the majority within approximately three weeks.  Yet, a number of classes/students will remain “ungraded”, perhaps indefinitely, with the NG mark remaining as part of the student(s)’ permanent record.  

Consequently, the Bursar’s Office is compelled to establish policy and procedures to comply with Federal Title IV Regulations³ as it pertains to the Return of Title IV funds (R2T4).  This policy should not be considered a Registrar policy; nor should this policy be viewed as an official grade change, which would amend the student’s official transcript.  It is an interpretation of the NG mark to facilitate compliance with Federal Title IV Regulations.  This policy only pertains to those students receiving Title IV funds and will determine the student’s enrollment status with relation to the Return of Title IV (R2T4) process.

If a student receiving Title IV aid receives a NG mark for one or more classes and does not receive an earned grade (such as an A, B, C, etc.) on completion of a class, the student will have three weeks to receive an earned grade for at least one class before the NG marks are considered in the R2T4 process.  An earned grade of completion is defined as any grade other than U, W, WX, UW or X.  

When Student Accounts is made aware of the NG mark on the student's account an e-mail will be immediately be sent to the student and copied to both the instructor and the Dean of the college offering the class.  

The following are the various scenarios Student Accounts may encounter when processing R2T4s involving the NG mark and the way each should be handled:

A student receiving a NG mark in all class(es): Is considered an unofficial withdrawal and will be computed from the 50% point of the term⁴.  For example:

• A graduate student enrolls in one 5 credit-hour class.  The student fails officially withdraw from the class and is given a mark of “NG” at the end of the term.  The student's enrollment status for the purpose of R2T4 will be considered to be as an unofficial withdrawal.  Federal regulations set the date used in the return calculation as the 50% point of the term.
  

A student receiving a combination of NGs and Ws: Is considered an unofficial withdrawal if the Ws are prior to the 50% point of the term and an official withdrawal if the Ws are after the 50% point of the term.  If it is determined that the student's enrollment status is as an unofficial withdrawal the 50% point of the term should be used in the determination of the R2T4 funds.  However, if any W is after the 50% point, the enrollment status should be considered as an official withdrawal and the date of the withdrawal should be used in the R2T4 calculation. For example:

• An undergraduate student enrolls in three 3 credit hour classes.  The student officially withdraws from two of the classes prior to the 50% point of the term; however, the student fails to withdraw from the third class and receives a NG mark.  In this case the NG mark will be used to determine the student's status as an unofficial withdrawal and the 50% point of the term is used in the R2T4 calculation.
  
• An undergraduate student enrolls in three 3 credit hour classes.  The student officially withdraws from two of the classes after the 50% point of the term; however, the student fails to withdraw from the third class and receives a NG mark.  The student's status would be as an official withdrawal and the date used in the R2T4 calculation would be the date of the latest withdrawal.
  

A student receiving a combination of NGs and UWs: Is considered an unofficial withdrawal and the R2T4 funds will be computed from the 50% point of the term.  Neither the NG mark, nor the UW grade indicate when the student quit participating in the class, so as noted above, federal regulations guide us to use the 50% point of the term in the R2T4 calculation. For example:

• An undergraduate student enrolls in three 3 credit hour classes.  The student fails to officially withdraw from all their classes.  In two of the classes the student's professors enter a grade of UW for their respective classes.  In the third class the student receives a NG mark.  The enrollment status of the student will be considered as an unofficial withdrawal with the date of the 50% point of the term is used in the R2T4 calculation.
  

A student receiving a combination of NGs and WXs: Is considered an unofficial withdrawal.  Neither the WXs nor the NG will be recorded on the student's permanent transcript until the end of the term.  Though the WXs show non-participation, the NG mark does not and the 50% point of the term is used in the R2T4 calculation. For example:

• An undergraduate student enrolls in three 3 credit hour classes.  Prior to the term beginning the student contacted two of the three professors and advised that they would not be attending their respective classes.  At the end of the term the two professors assigned the student WXs as officially withdrawing without any participation; however, in the third class the student receives a NG mark.  Since the student did not withdraw from the third class, the student's enrollment status would be as an unofficial withdrawal and the date used for the R2T4 calculation would be the date of the 50% point of the term.
  

A student receiving a combination of NGs and Xs: Is considered an unofficial withdrawal as it is basically the same situation as stated in the example of NGs and WXs, except the X grade would indicate the student did not follow official withdrawal procedures for the respective classes.  Neither an X nor the NG will be recorded on the student's permanent transcript until the end of the term.  Though the X shows non-participation, the NG mark does not and the 50% point of the term is used in the R2T4 calculation.  NOTE: There is no difference between a "WX" and "X" when considering a R2T4.  Both signify non-participation in the respective classes and both have determination dates as the day before the term begins.

A student receiving a combination of NGs and Letter Grades (A, B, C, D or F): Does not require a R2T4 as the student has completed a class.

A student receiving a combination of NGs and more than one negative grade (W, UW, WX or X): Are considered on a case-by-case basis.  The following will give a wide range of examples in the process of considering the students enrollment status and the date to be used in the R2T4 calculation:

• W, UW and NG Example: An undergraduate student enrolls in three 3 credit hour classes.  The student officially withdraws from one class, but does not follow the official withdrawal policy in the other two classes.  In the class from which the student officially withdrew the professor assigns her a “W.”  In one of the other two classes her professor assigns her a UW as an unofficial withdrawal since she had come to class, but quit showing up.  In the third class she is assigned a NG.  
   
  If the official withdrawal date is prior to the 50% point of the term, then the student’s enrollment status would be as an unofficial withdrawal and the date of the 50% point of the term is the date of the Return calculation.
   
  However, if the withdrawal date is after the 50% point of the term, the student’s enrollment status would be as an official withdrawal and the date used in the Return calculation would be the date of the withdrawal.  In the case of two Ws with at least one of the Ws after the 50% point of the term, the latter withdrawal date is to be used.
  

• W, X and NG Example:  An undergraduate student enrolls in three 3 credit hour classes.  The student never shows up in one of the classes and receives a “X” from the professor.  The student officially withdraws from another class and is given a “W.”  In the third class the student receives a NG.  This situation is very similar to the above situation.   If the official withdrawal date is prior to the 50% point of the term, then the student’s enrollment status would be as an unofficial withdrawal and the date of the 50% point of the term would be used in the Return calculation. However, if the withdrawal date is after the 50% point of the term, the determination date will be the date of the withdrawal.  In the case of two Ws with at least one of the Ws after the 50% point of the term, the latter withdrawal date is to be used.
  
  
• UW, X and NG Example:  An undergraduate student enrolls in three 3 credit hour classes.  The student never shows up for one of the classes and though attended the other two classes quit coming to class before the end of the term without official notification of his or her intent.  In the class she never attended she receives an “X” for an unofficial withdrawal and non-participation.  In one of the other two classes the professor assigned the student a “UW” as an unofficial withdrawal and in the final class she receives a mark of “NG.”
  
  In this situation since there was participation in at least one of the classes, the student would be considered as an unofficial withdrawal with the status being determined at the 50% point of the term.
  
  Note: If the last "W" grade happens to be on or after the 60% period then a form need to be done but the withdraw date of the last class is used and no funds are returned.

Once grades are finalized for a term a query will be ran to identify students meeting the above situations.  Student Account’s staff will then send an e-mail to the student(s) (with a copy to the instructor and dean of the college offering the class) UConnect email account (formally Bearcat Online (BOL)) informing them that they have 3 weeks to resolve the NG mark.  Otherwise we have no alternative but to follow federal regulations and process the R2T4 as required by law.  All e-mails will be sent to the official university e-mail address per University policy.

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¹ U.S. Department of Education Dear Colleague Letter (DCL) GEN-04-03
² University Grading Scales and Definitions
³ Code of Federal Regulations 34 CFR 668.22
⁴ Code of Federal Regulations 34 CFR 668.22(c)
⁵ Code of Federal Regulations 34 CFR 668.22(c)(1)(iii)
⁶ Code of Federal Regulations 34 CFR 668.22(c)