Federal Student Aid Programs

The U.S. Department of Education provides a variety of financial assistance programs to help you and your family pay for college. To be eligible for Federal Student Aid programs, you must complete the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) each year. Final eligibility is determined by institutions prior to the student receiving their payment. Federal Student Aid may be received through grants, loans and work-study. These programs are summarized here.

If you need more information about any of these programs, contact the Federal Student Aid Information Center at (800) 4FED-AID (1-800-433-3243) or visit www.StudentAid.gov.

Grants

• Federal Pell Grant - The federal Pell grant program provides grants to undergraduate students who demonstrate financial need.
• Federal Supplemental Educational Opportunity Grant – The FSEOG program is a campus-based grant available to undergraduate students who demonstrate exceptional financial need.
• Iraq and Afghanistan Service Grant – This grant is available to students who do not demonstrate financial need for a Pell Grant, but whose parent or guardian was a member of the U.S. Armed Forces and died as a result of services performed in Iraq or Afghanistan after September 11, 2001.
• Teacher Education Assistance for College and Higher Education Grant – The TEACH grant program provides funding to students who intend to teach in high-need fields, such as bilingual education and English language acquisition, foreign language, mathematics, reading specialist, science, special education, or other identified teacher shortage approved by the U.S. Department of Education.

Work-Study

• Federal Work-Study Program – FWS is a campus-based employment program, which allows students with financial need to work part time and earn money to help pay for educational expenses, such as tuition, fees, transportation, room and board.

Loans

• Federal Perkins Loan Program – The federal Perkins loan program is a campus-base loan program that provides student loans at a fixed 5 percent interest rate.
• Federal Direct Loan Program – The federal direct loan program provides student loans to eligible undergraduate, graduate and professional students. Federal Direct loans include the following:
  • Direct Subsidized Loans are available to undergraduate students with financial need.
  • Direct Unsubsidized Loans are available to undergraduate, graduate and professional students who do not demonstrate financial need.
  • Direct PLUS Loans are credit-based loans available to parents of dependent students and to graduate and professional students.
  • Direct Consolidation Loans allow federal student loan borrowers the ability to combine multiple loans into a single loan.