Federal Student Aid (2024)

FAQs

Why did I get so little from FAFSA? ›

This can happen. The FAFSA relies on two-year-old tax information. Or your family may be facing big expenses that the FAFSA didn't ask about. If your financial aid offer seems way off, contact the college's financial aid office.

Request Additional Federal Student Loans

If you've exhausted other options and still need additional funds to help you pay for school, contact your school's financial aid office to find out if you're eligible for additional federal student loans.

If you don't meet baseline eligibility requirements, or if you've previously defaulted on a loan, you may not be approved for a federal student loan. You must maintain "satisfactory progress" in school to be approved for student loans.

Students must be in good academic standing to receive federal aid. The required GPA varies from school to school, but typically students need a 2.0 or higher. If your grades fall below the minimum GPA, you could lose eligibility for financial aid. See also: What GPA do you need to get a full scholarship?

The form now contains far fewer questions, a direct data exchange with the IRS and a new formula that could impact student's financial aid packages. The changes are the result of the FAFSA Simplification Act, signed into law in 2020.

The FAFSA formula doesn't expect students or families to use all of their adjusted available income to pay for college. The formula allocates 50 percent of a dependent student's adjusted available income to cover college expenses and anywhere from 22 to 47 percent of parents' available income.

What income is too high for FAFSA? There is no income that is too high to file a FAFSA. No matter how much you make, you can always submit a FAFSA. Eligibility for need-based financial aid increases as the cost of attendance increases, so even a wealthy student might qualify for financial aid at a higher-cost college.

Who gets denied FAFSA? ›

According to the office of federal student aid, some applications can be denied because applicants did not meet the basic eligibility requirements. These include: Having demonstrated financial need for need-based federal student aid programs. Being a U.S. citizen or an eligible non-citizen.

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.

There is no income cut-off to qualify for federal student aid. Many factors—such as the size of your family and your year in school—are considered.

It's possible that you might not receive your entire scheduled award for an award year. There are a few reasons for this, the most common of which are that you are not enrolled for the full year or that you are not enrolled full-time, or both.

Contact the financial aid office for more aid if it's a needs-based appeal. If it's a merit-based appeal, contact the enrollment or admissions office. Explain that you want to initiate a professional judgment review (or “special circ*mstances review,” as some schools call it).

Changes in federal and/or state regulations

All federal and state-funded programs are subject to change at any time as a result of legislative action. If there are changes which impact your eligibility, your financial aid award(s) will be adjusted to reflect these changes.

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.

It's possible that you might not receive your entire scheduled award for an award year. There are a few reasons for this, the most common of which are that you are not enrolled for the full year or that you are not enrolled full-time, or both. We calculate the percentage of the scheduled award that you did receive.