Cost of Attendance Overaward Policy
The following policy applies to all students who are receiving financial assistance for attendance at the University of Kentucky.
Cost of Attendance (COA) is the student's budget as determined by the UK Office of Student Financial Aid.
Freshmen and transfer students whose first period of enrollment at the University of Kentucky is the fall 2009 semester or later:
- Federal/state overaward regulations and provisions apply to incoming freshmen or transfer students receiving federal/state need-based awards. The student's awards will be adjusted accordingly to eliminate any overaward. See federal/state regulatory overaward requirements section below.
- UK will not reduce or cancel ACG, SMART, SEOG, or CAP awards when a student is also receiving Academic Scholarship Office (ASO), William C. Parker, and/or Robinson Scholarships Program (RSP) funds in order to eliminate the need to comply with federal overaward requirements. Instead, the ASO, Parker, and/or RSP funds will be reduced as needed to eliminate the overaward.
- Exception: If the total of the original institutional award amounts + KEES + Pell exceeds the total of the adjusted award(s) from the Robinson or Academic Scholarship Offices + KEES + all need-based gift aid, federal/state need-based aid may be returned in order to provide the student with the maximum gift aid. The total of all aid, however, cannot exceed the COA.
- Federal Pell Grant and Kentucky Educational Excellence Scholarships (KEES) are never reduced.
- The Robinson Scholarship award will always be reduced by the amount of any Federal Pell Grant funds received.
- Athletic awards are not impacted by this policy since SEC/NCAA rules will take precedence.
- Cost of Attendance Overawards: When the total of all aid received by the student exceeds the student's cost of attendance budget, awards in the package will be adjusted (cancelled or reduced) in order to eliminate the overaward. Federal Work-Study awards and loans will be reduced before any reduction is made to scholarship or grant awards.
- Note: With the exception of institutional funds awarded by the Academic Scholarship Office, the Robinsons Scholars Program or the Office of Student Financial Aid, institutional scholarships awarded by UK colleges or departments and outside (private) scholarship awards will not be included in the calculation to determine if the student's total awards exceed the cost of attendance (COA).
Continuing undergraduate students whose first period of enrollment at the University of Kentucky was prior to the fall 2009 semester:
- Federal/state overaward regulations and provisions apply to continuing undergraduate students receiving federal/state need-based awards. The student's awards will be adjusted accordingly to eliminate any overaward. See federal/state regulatory overaward requirements section below.
- UK will reduce or cancel ACG, SMART, SEOG, or CAP awards when a student is also receiving Academic Scholarship Office (ASO), William C. Parker, Robinson Scholarships Program (RSP) funds, or other institutional awards to avoid a conflict with federal overaward requirements.
- Federal Pell Grant and Kentucky Educational Excellence Scholarships (KEES) are never reduced.
- The Robinson Scholarship award will always be reduced by the amount of any Federal Pell Grant funds received.
- Athletic awards are not impacted by this policy since SEC/NCAA rules will take precedence.
Graduate students:
- Federal/state overaward regulations and provisions apply to any graduate student receiving federal/state need-based awards. The student's awards will be adjusted accordingly to eliminate any overaward. See federal/state regulatory overaward requirements section below.
Federal/State Regulatory Overaward Requirements:
Federal and state need-based aid regulations (laws) stipulate that a student receiving federal or state need-based awards (see list below) cannot receive assistance (from any source) in excess of his/her gross financial need as determined by the analysis of the information submitted on the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA).
| Cost of Attendance (COA) minus Expected Family Contribution (EFC) = Gross Financial Need |
COA is established by the aid office in compliance with federal law. EFC is determined by the analysis of the information submitted on the FAFSA using a federally mandated methodology referred to as "FM." |
|---|
Federal and state need-based awards include the following:
- Federal Pell Grant (Note: The amount of the Pell Grant cannot be adjusted.)
- Federal Supplement Educational Opportunity Grant (SEOG)
- Federal Academic Competitiveness Grant (ACG)
- National SMART Grant (SMART)
- KY College Access Program Grant (CAP)
- KY Teachers Scholarship
- Need-Based Scholarship/Grant Programs from States Other than Kentucky
- Federal Perkins Loan
- Federal Work-Study
- Federal Subsidized Loan (FFEL or Direct)
- Health Professions Loans (HPSL)
Adjustment of the awards to eliminate an 'overaward' is required by federal/state law if any of the above federal/state need-based awards are included in the student's financial aid package.
Gift aid from any source (federal, state [including KEES], institutional, private)
+ Perkins Loans
+ Federal Work Study
+ Federal Subsidized FFEL or Direct Loans
Total of above cannot exceed gross need -> Overaward 1
+ Federal TEACH grant
+ Robert C. Byrd Honors Scholarships
+ Federal Unsubsidized FFEL or Direct Loan
+ Alternative (private) Loans
Total of all of the above cannot exceed cost of attendance -> Overaward 2
When a student's package includes federal or state need-based funds, Overaward 1 and Overaward 2 above must be eliminated.
Overaward Exception: No adjustment is necessary for a student with a full grant-in-aid athletic scholarship and who is also receiving a Federal Pell Grant. NCAA rules disallow adjustment of the athletic scholarship.