On return, intend individual to receive college commendations (7)
I believe the answer is:
encomia
'commendations' is the definition.
(encomium is a kind of commendation)
'on return intend individual to receive college' is the wordplay.
'on return' says the letters should be written in reverse.
'intend' becomes 'aim' (aiming is a kind of intending).
'individual' becomes 'one' (an individual is one person).
'to receive' means one lot of letters goes inside another.
'college' becomes 'c'.
'aim'+'one'='aimone'
'aimone' placed around 'c' is 'aimocne'.
'aimocne' written backwards gives 'ENCOMIA'.
(Other definitions for encomia that I've seen before include "tributes" , "Eulogies" , "very good reviews?" .)