Federal Student Aid (2024)

FAQs

What disqualifies you from FAFSA? ›

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.

FAFSA® requires details about your (and your spouse's, if you're married) financial assets to help calculate how much aid you'll need to pay for college.

Some of the most common reasons your grant funds may be reduced are: You didn't enroll full time. Pell Grants are prorated for part-time enrollment, You didn't begin attending all of your classes before the financial aid lock date.

There are a few common reasons why the Federal Processor will reject an application: Missing signatures, inconsistent marital status with income, taxes paid are equal to or higher than adjusted gross income, citizenship questions are blank, marital status and family members blank, etc.

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.

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 student should keep no cash or cash equivalents saved in their name. Students are punished by the FAFSA for saving any cash. The FAFSA will specifically ask “As of today what is the cash balance of checking, savings…” accounts for the student.

Cars, computers, furniture, books, boats, appliances, clothing, and other personal property are not reported as assets on the FAFSA. Home maintenance expenses are also not reported as assets on the FAFSA, since the net worth of the family's principal place of residence is not reported as an asset.

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.

What is the maximum amount FAFSA gives? ›

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 EFC (2023–24 FAFSA form) is an index number that college financial aid staff use to determine how much financial aid you would receive if you were to attend their school. The information you report on your FAFSA form is used to calculate your EFC. The EFC is calculated according to a formula established by law.

If you're completing the FAFSA form on paper, the instructions will guide you towards which questions are required. If you're an independent student, you don't need to provide parental information and may skip the questions about parent household and finances.

In most cases, due to the IRS Data Retrieval Tool for the 2023–24 FAFSA form, you won't have to verify income and tax information. However, if you are selected for verification, the school may ask you to submit a tax transcript or other documentation to confirm the information you reported.

To be eligible for federal student aid and college financial aid, a student must be making Satisfactory Academic Progress (SAP). This generally consists of maintaining at least a 2.0 GPA on a 4.0 scale (i.e., at least a C average) and passing enough classes with progress toward a degree.

(Note, however, that you may be able to qualify for a discount on computer equipment once you enroll in college.) Cars, computers, furniture, books, boats, appliances, clothing, and other personal property are not reported as assets on the FAFSA.

Our general eligibility requirements include that you have financial need for need-based aid, are a U.S. citizen or eligible noncitizen, and are enrolled in an eligible degree or certificate program at an eligible college or career/trade school.