Federal Student Aid (2024)

FAQs

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

If you think you or your parents make too much to file the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA), you're wrong. There are no income limits on the FAFSA. Instead, your eligibility for federal student aid depends on how much your college costs and what your family should contribute.

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.

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 you need more financial aid, contact your school's financial aid office. Here are other options you can consider if you didn't receive enough financial aid: searching and applying for scholarships. working at an on-campus part-time job.

Basically, there is no set income cutoff for aid. If you still think your parents are too wealthy to access financial aid, consider using either the Federal Student Aid Estimator or your school's net price calculator.

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.

The FAFSA is the gateway to Federal financial aid. For the 2018–19 school year you should file your FAFSA early in October 2017. With a family income of $70,000 you will probably be aid-eligible, but you'll never know until you do your homework.

You can use the online FAFSA form to calculate your estimated EFC. The estimated EFC appears on the confirmation page when you complete and submit your form. After your application is fully processed, you'll receive a Student Aid Report (SAR) with your official EFC.

Can FAFSA see my checking account? ›

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.

The 2024-2025 FAFSA includes even more aid for single parents, including expanded eligibility for the maximum Pell Grant funds and a larger increase in Income Protection Allowance (IPA).

For example, let's say a school's total cost of attendance is $30,000 and your EFC/SAI is $8,000. You could qualify for up to $22,000 of need-based aid through programs like federal Pell Grants, direct subsidized loans, and the work-study program. That doesn't necessarily mean you will get that much aid, however.

There could be several reasons why your EFC is high with a low income. If your family has a high number of investments or other assets, this could skew your EFC. It is also possible that you made a mistake on the application.

Among undergraduates who received any financial aid, the average total amount received was $14,100. The average amount received from grants was $9,300 and the average amount received from student loans directly to students was $7,900. Students in work-study programs were awarded an average of $2,500.

You need to make satisfactory academic progress in college or career school in order to keep getting federal student aid. Talk to your school about whether you can appeal the decision that made you ineligible to continue receiving federal student aid.

The majority of students awarded financial aid received federal grants. The average federal grant award for undergraduate students has more than doubled to $8,890 in 2022 from $4,335 in 2001. Student aid estimates for 2022-2023 show that average federal grant aid has increased to $10,677.

Federal student aid from ED covers such expenses as tuition and fees, housing and food, books and supplies, and transportation. Aid can also help pay for other related expenses, such as a computer and dependent care.

Absolutely not! In fact, many financial aid experts recommend that you only accept what you really need. While accepting scholarships and grants is often harmless, you should be careful about how much you accept in student loans.