Private student loans become necessary after a student receives their financial aid package and learns that there is still a gap between what they’ve been given and what they can afford to pay. Students should not use private student loans until their federal loan options have been exhausted, as …
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Maximizing Your Financial Aid Eligibility
Believe it or not, there are strategies for maximizing your eligibility for need-based student financial aid. These strategies are based on loopholes in the need analysis methodology and are completely legal. We developed these strategies by analyzing the flaws in the Federal Need Analysis …
FAFSA
The Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) must be completed to apply for federal and state financial aid. Many colleges and universities, especially public institutions, require the FAFSA. The FAFSA must be submitted every year to obtain financial aid for college. How to Obtain the …
Dependency Overrides
Financial aid administrators have the authority, through Section 480(d)(7) of the Higher Education Act, to change a student's status from dependent to independent in cases involving unusual circumstances. Nationwide, approximately 2% of undergraduate students become independent through such …
SAP Appeals
Section 484(a)(2) of the Higher Education Act of 1965 requires a student to be making Satisfactory Academic Progress (SAP) in order to be eligible for any Title IV federal student aid. Schools are required to review the academic progress at least once a year at the end of the year. SAP is …
Household Size
Household Size and Number in College The rules for including someone in household size are as follows: The rules for including someone in number in college are as follows: These definitions are based on Sections 474(b)(3), 475(f), 480(k) and 480(l) of the Higher Education …
Withholding Academic Transcripts and Diplomas
Colleges would like to be able to place holds on the release of academic transcripts, grade reports and diplomas because of student failure to fulfill their financial and administrative obligations to the college. These obligations might include education loans (e.g., defaulting on institutional …
Bankruptcy and Financial Aid
This page answers common questions about the relationship between bankruptcy and financial aid, such as student loans. The first answer concerns the impact of bankruptcy on eligibility for student loans. The second answer discusses whether student loans can be discharged through …
FAQs about Financial Aid
Here are some of the most common topics about financial aid. General Questions about Eligibility and Applying FAFSA Questions Home Schooling and Financial Aid Divorce and Financial Aid An entire section of Finaid is devoted to the topic …
Loan Payment Calculator
This Loan Payment Calculator computes an estimate of the size of your monthly loan payments and the annual salary required to manage them without too much financial difficulty. The calculator can be used with Federal education loans (Direct Subsidized, Unsubsidized, and PLUS) and most private …
