Federal Student Aid (2024)

FAQs

What to do if your financial aid is not enough? ›

Other reasons for financial aid disqualification include: Not maintaining satisfactory progress at your college or degree program. Not filling out the FAFSA each year you are enrolled in school. Defaulting on a student loan.

You could be eligible for as much as $30,000 of aid

In order to receive their share of these funds, students should complete the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA). Many students mistakenly believe that they do not qualify for federal aid.

Once your FAFSA form or correction has been processed, you can get a copy of your SAR by logging in to fafsa.gov using your FSA ID and selecting the “View SAR” option near the middle of the “My FAFSA” page.

Request a Reevaluation of Your Circ*mstances

Sometimes a family's finances are not accurately reflected on the FAFSA^® form because of changes that have occurred, such as job loss/reduction, divorce or separation, or other special circ*mstances.

If your family's financial situation has changed since you submitted the FAFSA (Free Application for Federal Student Aid), you may be eligible for more money. This starts with appealing your award letter from your school. You might do this if your family has experienced a: Job loss or change in income.

There is no set income limit for eligibility to qualify for financial aid through. You'll need to fill out the FAFSA every year to see what you qualify for at your college. It's important to make sure you fill out the FAFSA as quickly as possible once it opens for the following school year.

Some types of information that might be verified include income, taxes, education tax credits, child support, high school completion status or number of members in your household. You can reduce the chances of a verification by importing information from your FAFSA directly from the IRS's data retrieval tool.

Basic FAFSA eligibility requirements

Be enrolled or accepted for enrollment in a qualifying degree or certificate program. Maintain satisfactory academic progress while in school. Not be in default on federal student loans or owe money on a federal grant.

Award amounts can change yearly. The maximum Federal Pell Grant award is $7,395 for the 2023–24 award year (July 1, 2023, to June 30, 2024). The maximum Federal Pell Grant award is $7,395 for the 2024–25 award year (July 1, 2024, to June 30, 2025). your plans to attend school for a full academic year or less.

What income gets the most financial aid? ›

Every year, the federal government updates the maximum Federal Pell Grant award amount. For the 2024–25 award year, the maximum Pell Grant award is $7,395.

If your FAFSA form is complete and fully processed, your estimated federal student aid and SAI will display under the “Eligibility Overview” tab of your online FAFSA Submission Summary. Before completing the FAFSA form, use the Federal Student Aid Estimator to estimate your SAI.

Students selected for verification of their FAFSA form may wonder, “Does FAFSA check your bank accounts?” FAFSA does not directly view the student's or parent's bank accounts.

After you submit your FAFSA form online, you can check its status immediately by going to fafsa.gov and logging in with your FSA ID (account username and password). (Note: Only the student can check the status.)

Any money left over is paid to you directly for other education expenses. If you get your loan money, but then you realize that you don't need the money after all, you may cancel all or part of your loan within 120 days of receiving it and no interest or fees will be charged.

If your family's circ*mstances have changed, you can contact the school's financial aid office to if there is any more aid available now. You can call or send a clear and truthful letter to the office concerning these situational changes in your family's finances like: Changes in income. High medical expenses.