Federal Student
Aid
Eligibility Requirements
To receive aid from any of the federal student aid programs, you must meet
all of the following criteria:
- Demonstrate financial need, except for some loan
programs
- Demonstrate by one of the following means that you are
qualified to enroll in postsecondary education:
- Have a high school diploma or a General Education Development
(GED) Certificate
- Pass an approved ability-to-benefit (ATB) test.
- Meet other standards your state establishes that are approved by the U.S. Department of
Education
- Complete a high school education in a home school setting
approved under state law.
- Be enrolled or accepted for enrollment as a regular student working toward a
degree or certificate in an eligible
program. (You may not receive aid for correspondence or telecommunications courses unless they are part of an associate, bachelor’s, or graduate degree program.)
- Be a U.S. citizen or eligible non-citizen.
- Have a valid Social Security Number (unless you’re from the Republic of the Marshall Islands, the Federated States of Micronesia, or the Republic of Palau). If you need a Social Security Number, you can find out more about applying for one through the Internet at
www.ssa.gov
or call 1-800-772-1213. TTY users can call
1-800-325-0778.
- Meet satisfactory academic progress standards set by the postsecondary school you are or will be attending.
- Certify that you will use federal student aid only for educational
purposes and certify that you are not in default on a federal student loan and
do not owe money on a federal student grant (which
could happen if you withdraw from school, for example)..
- Comply with the Selective Service registration, if required. If you’re a male aged 18 through 25, and you haven’t yet registered, you can give the Selective Service permission to register you by checking a box on the FAFSA. You can also register through the Internet at
www.sss.gov
or call 1-847-688-6888. TTY callers can call
1-847-688-2567.
The law suspends aid eligibility for students convicted under
federal or state law of selling or possessing illegal drugs.
If you have a conviction or convictions for these offenses, you need
to find out how this law applies to you. You can call
1-800-4-FED-AID (1-800-433-3243) for information or go to www.fafsa.ed.gov,
then click on "Worksheets" in the left column, then select
"Drug Worksheet". Even if you're ineligible for
federal aid, you should complete the FAFSA because schools and
states use the information in awarding nonfederal aid. You
must complete Question 31 of the FAFSA; if you leave it blank,
you'll automatically become ineligible for federal student aid.
When you apply for aid from FSA programs, the Department of
Education verifies some of your information with certain federal
agencies, including the Social Security Administration (for
verification of Social Security Numbers and U.S. citizenship
status). If the information doesn't "match", the
discrepancy will have to be resolved for you to receive aid.
In additional to other agencies, the Department of Education checks
your records against their database, the National Student Loan
Data System (NSLDS) for verification that you don't have a
defaulted federal student loan, didn't receive an overpayment on a
federal grant or a Federal Perkins Loan, and haven't borrowed more
than the total limit allowed.
For more information check The
Student Guide, a federal publication.
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