Related Financial Aid Policies
Kean University is a Division III member institution of the NCAA whose rules prohibit schools from awarding financial aid and/or scholarships based upon athletic ability, leadership, participation or performance.
Verification
The U.S. Department of Education randomly selects applications for Verification, a process which involves “validating” certain FAFSA information by having a student and parent(s) supply an IRS tax return transcript and/or other documents. If you are a first-time student to the University and have been selected for verification, your award(s) will be estimated and will not be final or credited to your student account until the verification process is completed. In some cases, awards will be adjusted if differences are found between the FAFSA information and verification documents.
Continuing students will not receive a financial aid package until all requested documents are submitted and verification has been completed.
Enrollment Status
Grant and/or scholarship award(s) are initially based on full-time enrollment (12 or more credits per semester for undergraduates & 9 for graduates). If your status drops from full- to part-time status after the start of classes, your award(s) may be adjusted. For example: if you drop from 12 to 9 credit hours during the first week of classes and have TAG, this award will be cancelled. During the same period, if you have a Pell Grant, this award will be prorated.
Other awards may also be subject to reduction. Therefore, when dropping or adding classes, it is important for the student to check with the Office of Financial Aid and Scholarship Services to determine whether his/her award(s) will be affected.
Reduction of Financial Aid Due to Withdrawal from the University
Federal regulations require the University to adjust Federal Student Aid awards when a student withdraws from classes before 60 percent of the semester has been completed. When adjustment of funds is necessary, a student may be required to return some or all of the federal funds awarded. The calculation of reduction in Federal funds is done within 30 days of a student’s date of official withdrawal from the University.
The Federal funds applicable under this procedure include: the Pell Grant, Direct Loan(s), Supplemental Educational Opportunity Grant, TEACH Grant, PLUS and Graduate PLUS Loans.
Unofficial Withdrawal
Federal policy requires students who have been awarded any type of Federal Student Aid (FSA) to fulfill their academic requirements. If a student fails to earn a passing grade in at least one course he or she enrolled in for a semester, the Office of Financial Aid must assume for FSA purposes that the student has unofficially withdrawn, unless it can be documented that the student did complete the term. For example, a student receives all "F" and/or "U" and/or "W" grades for a term. The Office of Financial Aid is required to determine if the student "unofficially withdrew" from the University. An "unofficial withdrawal" occurs when a student stops attending all classes and stops participating in any academic activities beyond the date he/she last attended classes.
Depending on the date of the student's "unofficial withdrawal", it may be necessary for the University and/or the student to return some or all of the financial aid the student received during the term.
Repeating Coursework & Aid Adjustments
For purposes of receiving financial aid, students are allowed to retake a previously “passed” course one additional time and still maintain eligibility for funding. The definition of passed, as it pertains to this policy, means any grade higher than an “F”.
A student may be eligible for financial aid when repeating failed courses. Note that the normal Financial Aid Satisfactory Academic Progress policy will still apply in these cases.
If a student withdraws before completing the course that he or she is retaking and receiving financial aid for, then that course is not counted as the one allowable retake for that course.
If a student passes a class once and again receives financial aid for retaking it but fails the second time, that failure counts as the paid retake, and the student cannot be paid for taking the class a third time.
Third Week Attendance Policy
The University adopted a policy to monitor the enrollment of students receiving financial aid. Students who are not attending a class (within the first three weeks of class) for which they registered will have their aid reduced and/or cancelled accordingly. Registration credits will be adjusted to reflect non-attendance.
Students will be notified via Kean email with instructions to follow and a deadline by which to respond, in order to have their aid adjusted to its original status.