Federal Student Aid (2024)

FAQs

Federal Student Aid? ›

Through Federal Student Aid (a performance-based organization), the U.S. Department of Education awards more than $120 billion a year in grants, work-study funds, and low-interest loans to approximately 13 million students.

Through Federal Student Aid (a performance-based organization), the U.S. Department of Education awards more than $120 billion a year in grants, work-study funds, and low-interest loans to approximately 13 million students.

Aid is available from the federal government in the form of grants, work-study funds, and loans.

Go to fafsa.gov. Select “Start New Form.” Log in with your FSA ID (account username and password). Create a StudentAid.gov account if you don't have one.

They can both be used to help fund education-related expenses. Financial aid doesn't typically need to be repaid. Student loans must be repaid within a given loan term, plus interest. FAFSA® must be filled out for financial aid and federal student loans.

The type of aid you receive after filling out the FAFSA determines if you need to pay it back. Grants, scholarships, and work-study money don't need to be repaid but have finite funding limits. You will need to repay subsidized, unsubsidized, and Direct Plus Loans.

To receive federal student aid, you'll need to… to obtain a college, career school, or trade school education, either by having a high school diploma or equivalent, by completing a high school education in a homeschool setting approved under state law, or by meeting the criteria for an ability-to-benefit alternative.

Have a high school diploma or a GED certificate. 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.

You also can't pay for the purchase of a car with financial aid funds. In particular, a qualified education loan is used solely to pay for qualified higher education expenses, which are limited to the cost of attendance as determined by the college or university.

Anyone of any income level can be eligible for unsubsidized federal student loans. However, grants, subsidized loans, and other types of aid may have income limits.

How much money does FAFSA give? ›

You need to fill out the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA^®) form only once per year, but the federal government, your state government, and your school have different dates by which you must do so to be eligible for each of their aid programs.

Eligibility for federal student aid does not carry over from one award year to the next, so you need to fill out the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA^®) form for each award year in which you are or plan to be a student.

Quick information on Pell grants: A Federal Pell Grant, unlike a loan, does not have to be repaid. The maximum Federal Pell Grant award is $6,895 for the 2022–23 award year (July 1, 2022, to June 30, 2023).

Undergraduate federal student loans. Grants and work-study don't require reimbursem*nt. Federal student loans, on the other hand, are borrowed from the federal government and must be repaid, usually with interest. All federal undergraduate loans have the same fixed rate, determined by Congress.

In the United States, federal assistance, also known as federal aid, federal benefits, or federal funds, is defined as any federal program, project, service, or activity provided by the federal government that directly assists domestic governments, organizations, or individuals in the areas of education, health, public ...

The FAFSA is an application that the federal government uses to gather the financial information it needs to assess what loans and grants you qualify for. The FAFSA needs to be completed each new aid year to determine eligibility for federal student aid.

A federal student loan is money that you or your parents borrow from the government to pay for your education and repay later with interest. Interest is the cost of borrowing that money, paid in the form of a percentage of your total loan amount. A higher interest rate means you pay more over time.

Understanding Federal Student Loan Types

The maximum amount that undergraduate students can borrow each year in federal direct subsidized and unsubsidized loans ranges from $5,500 to $12,500 per year, depending on their year in school and whether they're a dependent or independent student.