Understanding the timeline and institutional context
Fellows teach gross anatomy and neuroanatomy laboratory sessions, prepare teaching assistants, tutor junior students, manage anatomy lab operations, and complete peer-reviewed research.
KCU's own solicitation materials describe these responsibilities as "comparable to a normal full-time academic workload required by the University."
Fellows provide specialized training in Osteopathic Manipulative Medicine techniques, contribute to simulation and clinical skills instruction, and support the academic mission of the OMM Department.
Both fellowships are highly competitive and prestigious.
Both fellowships are recruited, contracted, and described to students as a structured fifth year of medical education. KCU's official solicitation documents describe a four-year DO program followed by a fellowship year - an explicit, written, five-year educational track.
July 2022 / 2023
15 affected fellows matriculate into KCU-COM with continuous full-time enrollment.
July 2024
Eight students sign contracts as Undergraduate Anatomy Fellows.
July 2025
Nine Anatomy Fellow contracts and nine OMM Fellow contracts signed.
July 4, 2025
One Big Beautiful Bill Act signed into law with "minimum time to credential" provision.
May 1, 2026
Department of Education publishes final OBBBA regulations.
May 7, 2026
KCU notifies fellows of complete federal aid disqualification.
June 30, 2026
$31,630 per Anatomy Fellow ($253,040 total) due immediately.
July 1, 2026
Fellows enter their final year of clinical rotations.
The financial harm to these students is directly traceable to a specific institutional reporting decision. KCU reports the DO program length as four years to federal financial aid systems - while simultaneously recruiting, contracting, and enrolling students in a program that adds a mandatory fifth year of full-time enrollment. The university's own documents contradict its federal reporting:
Fellowship solicitation documents describe the fellowship as occurring between OMS II/OMS III or OMS III/OMS IV years, inherently adding a fifth year.
Fellowship contracts specify that a tuition waiver would be applied during 'the fourth year of medical school' - which is their fifth consecutive year of enrollment.
Fellows were actively told during the solicitation and application process that the fellowship adds a fifth year to their education.
KCU leadership acknowledged that the reporting discrepancy had never been a problem before - and thus they saw no need to change it.
The Solution: The Department of Education's Common Origination and Disbursement (COD) system includes a specific 'Loan Limit Exception' flag designed precisely to protect students in integrated multi-year tracks. KCU has thus far declined to deploy this available administrative remedy.
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