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Federal Eligibility

Am I eligible to receive financial aid?

To be eligible to receive federal student aid, you must:

• Be a citizen or eligible noncitizen of the United States.
• Have a valid Social Security Number. (Students from the Republic of the Marshall Islands, Federated States of Micronesia, and the Republic of Palau are exempt from this requirement.)
• Have a high school diploma or a General Education Development (GED) certificate, or have completed homeschooling. If you don’t, you may still be eligible for federal student aid if you were enrolled in college or career school prior to July 1, 2012.
• Be enrolled in an eligible program as a regular student seeking a degree or certificate.
• Maintain satisfactory academic progress.
• Not owe a refund on a federal student grant or be in default on a federal student loan.
• Register (or already be registered) with the Selective Service System, if you are a male and not currently on active duty in the U.S. Armed Forces. (Students from the Federated States of Micronesia, the Republic of the Marshall Islands and the Republic of Palau are exempt from registering; see  for more information.)
• Not have a conviction for the possession or sale of illegal drugs for an offense that occurred while you were receiving federal student aid (such as grants, work-study, or loans). If you have such a conviction, you must complete the Student Aid Eligibility Worksheet to determine if you are eligible for aid or partially eligible for aid.

Many types of federal student aid, such as the Federal Pell Grant or subsidized loans where the government pays the interest while you are in college, also require you to have financial need.

Additionally, once you have a bachelor’s degree or a first professional degree, you are generally not eligible for Pell or Federal Supplemental Educational Opportunity Grants (FSEOG).

ELIGIBILITY BASED ON ENROLLMENT

To be eligible for various forms of financial aid, students must be enrolled in a minimum number of credit hours per semester as follows: