Eligibility and Verification

Eligibility Requirements for Federal, State, and Institutional Aid

• You must have a current FAFSA on file
• You must be a U.S. Citizen or an Eligible Non-citizen
• Male students, ages 18-25, must be registered for Selective Service
• You may not be in default on any federal educational loans or owe a refund on a federal grant
• You must be making Satisfactory Progress

Verification of Eligibility

• Citizenship: Citizenship status must be verified by the Department of Homeland Security. S. citizens flagged for verification of citizenship on the FAFSA should contact the Social Security Administration to update their federal records to prevent repeated future requests.
  
  
• Selective Service: All male U.S. citizens (regardless of where they live) and male immigrants residing in the United States must register with the Selective Service within 30 days of their 18th birthday. Registration verification can be completed online through the Selective Service System. 
• Default on a Federal Loan: Defaulting on a federal loan has serious consequences and an effect upon a student's continued financial aid eligibility.  You must contact your loan holder to resolve your default status. If you’re not sure who your loan holder is, you can log in to “My Federal Student Aid” to get your loan holder’s contact information. 
• Income Verification: The U.S. Department of Education may select a financial aid application for verification. If selected, students must are required to submit an Independent Verification Worksheet and Student Tax Return Transcript 
• The IRS Data Retrieval Tool will retrieve the required tax information directly from the IRS and transfer it to FAFSA. It is quicker than ordering tax return transcript. If you originally provided estimates for your tax information on the FAFSA, you can make a correction and use the IRS Data Retrieval Tool to update the information.
• Satisfactory Academic Progress:  Criteria for assessing SAP can be found in the Student Handbook.