You can't go by jumps on the "refund meter". It's only a work in progress. The end result is what counts. $4100 less tax (or bigger refund) doesn't sound unusual with two dependents in college. Review your return, line by line, to look for obvius errors. The education credit(s) is calculated on form 8863 and is split and entered partially on line 17 of form 1040 and line 50 (1040 schedule 3)
