Return of Title IV funds requirements apply to a Title IV grant and/or loan recipient or eligible recipient who withdraws or ceases attendance from Kenzie Academy before completing the payment period.

The payment period is the academic period established for which financial aid is awarded and disbursed. This may not always align with the registration and billing period for a program. Students are encouraged to learn and understand their program’s payment period definition.

  • Kenzie will perform a Return to Title IV calculation and notify the student of any Federal Student Aid (FSA) fund return within 30 days of the date of withdrawal or the last date of attendance.
  • Kenzie has 45 days from the date of determination that the student withdrew to return all unearned FSA funds for which we are responsible for.

Kenzie divides the number of days attended by the number of days in the period, excluding breaks of five days or more. Once this calculation is completed, it will show the percent of earned aid. However, if the student has earned greater than 60% of the payment period, they are considered to be 100% earned.

The percent earned multiplied by the total FSA for the payment period is the amount the student earned based upon his or her withdrawal date or last date of attendance. If this amount is greater than what was actually disbursed, then Kenzie will offer the student a post-withdrawal disbursement, provided the funds meet the conditions for a late disbursement. If the amount that was actually disbursed is greater than the amount earned, the excess is considered unearned FSA.

Kenzie will return a portion of any unearned FSA based upon the student’s institutional charges for the payment period. Institutional charges include tuition. The total amount of institutional charges is multiplied by the percent earned (100% minus the percent earned) to determine the unearned amount of institutional charges. Kenzie will return the lesser of the unearned institutional charges or the total amount unearned.

Return of Funds

Kenzie will return FSA to the programs from which the student received aid during the payment period in the following order, up to the net amount disbursed from each source:

  1. Direct Unsubsidized Loan
  2. Direct Subsidized Loan
  3. Direct PLUS Loan
  4. Federal Pell Grant *
  5. Federal Supplemental Education Opportunity Grant (FSEOG)*
  6. Iraq and Afghanistan Service Grant*
  7. Federal Work Studies (FWS) funds are not included in the calculation.

*There is a 50% grant protection allowance for the student built into the Return to Title IV calculation. Students are also not required to return unearned funds of $50 or less for Title IV grant programs.

Students are responsible for immediate payment on account balances that are a result of a Return to Title IV calculation.

Within the Return to Title IV calculation, there is also an amount of unearned Title IV aid due from the student.

  • Title IV grant funds are typically repaid by Kenzie and the student is responsible for payment to the University. However, Kenzie can report a grant amount due from the student as an overpayment to the Department of Education. Kenzie will waive any grant repayment and will not report an overpayment for any affected individual covered by the HEROES Act.
  • Direct Loans are to be repaid in accordance with the terms and conditions outlined in the student’s signed Master Promissory Note (MPN).

Post-Withdrawal Disbursement

There may be an instance of a student who has aid returned due to the result of a Return to Title IV calculation but may have undisbursed aid. In this case, the student must decide if they would like the post-withdrawal disbursement of aid applied to their account. Post Withdrawal Disbursements fall into two categories when it comes to authorization: grants do not require authorization, while Direct Loan funds require authorization.

Student Financial Services will notify students in writing if the student is eligible for any Direct Loan post-withdrawal disbursement eligibility. In order to receive the post-withdrawal disbursement, the student must sign and return the authorization letter within fourteen (14) days of the date of the notice. The Direct Loans are to be repaid in accordance with the terms and conditions outlined in the student’s signed Master Promissory Note (MPN).

Programs Offered in Modules

At Kenzie, our programs are ‘offered in modules.’ According to the Department of Education, if a program is ‘offered in modules,’ it means that the course(s) do not span the entire length of the payment period or period of enrollment. For programs that are offered within modules, the payment period would be considered three modules within one term. A student is considered to have withdrawn for Title IV purposes if the student ceases attendance at any point prior to completing the payment period.

Return to Title IV Calculation Example

A term start date is Sept. 7 and the end date is Dec. 23. There is a 5-day break for Thanksgiving. The total days for the term is 103 days. The student withdraws on Oct. 2 which is day 26 of the term. The percentage of earned aid would be 25.2% (26 days/103 days) and the unearned aid percentage is 74.8%.

  • If the student received $5,500 in Title IV aid, then the student earned $1,386 in Title IV aid and $4,114 is the unearned amount.
  • If institutional charges are $6,000, then the amount of earned charges would be $1,512 and the unearned charges would be $4,488.
  • Kenzie is responsible for returning the lesser of the unearned institutional charges or the total amount of unearned Title IV aid, so Kenzie would return $4,114 in this example. The student is responsible for the immediate payment of the balance on the account.

Return of Title IV Fund Requirements

Return of Title IV funds requirements do apply to a student who:

  • Officially withdraws during a payment period; or
  • Unofficially withdraws during a payment period (student stops attending without providing notification to the university); or
  • Ceases attendance during a payment period; or
  • Graduates during a payment period.

Return of Title IV funds requirements do not apply to a student who:

  • Never attended any classes, or for whom Kenzie cannot document attendance in at least one class for the payment period or period of enrollment. If the student never attended any classes or Kenzie cannot document the student’s attendance in at least one class, the student did not establish eligibility for Title IV aid for the period and all funds must be returned.