Federal Work Study is a need-based federal assistance program designed to provide students with a means to earn money to help pay college expenses. Kentucky Wesleyan student employees work on campus and are paid once per month.
Students with unpaid balances are expected to contribute at least 80 percent of their employment earnings toward paying the balances. Funding is limited. Early application is necessary, and the FAFSA is required.
Handbook for Student Workers
The Financial Aid Office is required to monitor and adjust students’ financial aid awards to eliminate overawards and/or overpayments in compliance with federal and state regulations and institutional policy.
What is an Overaward?
An overaward or overpayment exists when any of the situations occur:
- The student’s financial aid exceeds the student’s Cost of Attendance (COA).
- The student receives multiple tuition specific awards (scholarships, grants, or waivers) that exceed the student’s tuition assessment.
- The student receives multiple housing specific awards that exceed the student’s housing assessment.
- The student’s award in an individual program (e.g., Federal Pell Grant, Federal Direct Loan) exceeds annual or aggregate/lifetime limits.
- The student is receiving Federal Pell Grant or Federal Iraq and Afghanistan Service Grant at multiple schools for the same payment period.
- The student is receiving Federal SEOG, Federal Work-study, Federal Direct Subsidized Loan, KY College Access Program Grant (CAP), Kentucky Tuition Grant (KTG) other institutional, state, or external need-based scholarship or grant programs, and the student’s total gift aid (scholarships and grants) in combination of the aforementioned financial aid programs exceed the student’s demonstrated financial need. Financial Need is determined by subtracting the student’s Expected Family Contribution (EFC) from COA.
How do Overawards occur?
Overawards are usually the result of the student receiving aid that the Financial Aid Office was not aware of when the student’s Financial Aid Package was created.Overawards may also be created when the student’s Expected Family Contribution (EFC) increases as a result of verification. Overawards can result from application errors as well. Regardless of the reason for overaward, the Financial Aid Office is bound by regulations and policy to correct the overaward.Resolving the overaward could result in the student owing the University money if the overawarded financial aid funds have already disbursed to the student’s account.
How are Overawards corrected?
Following federal and state regulations and institutional policy, the Financial Aid Office will resolve the overaward in a way that is most favorable to the student.To alleviate an overaward, the Financial Aid Office will determine whether the student has increased costs that were not anticipated when the student was previously awarded. Following this step, if the student’s total aid still exceeds his or her COA or Financial Need, loans will be canceled or reduced and returned to the lender if not already disbursed. Following this step, if there is still an overaward and the student is employed under the Federal Work-Study Program, the student will be requested to stop working. If after loans and Federal Work-study have been adjusted and an overaward still remains, grants and scholarships will be canceled or reduced.
The order in which aid funds are adjusted or reduced to resolve an overaward is as follows:
- Private (Alternative) Educational Loan
- Federal Direct PLUS Loan
- Federal Direct Unsubsidized Loan
- Federal TEACH Grant
- Federal Direct Subsidized Loan
- Federal Work-Study
- Federal SEOG
- KWC need-based scholarships or grants
- KWC Academic Scholarships
- KWC Employee Tuition Remission Program
- KWC Endowed/Gift funds
- KWC College and/or Departmental awards
- KY Teachers Scholarship
- Kentucky Tuition Grant (KTG)
- College Access Program Grant (CAP)
- Other state funds
- External scholarships