Education
Keeping aid in place from one year to the next
Aid is renewed rather than granted once, and three requirements account for nearly every interruption.
The application has to be completed again for each academic year, and the deadlines move. Assuming a package rolls forward automatically is the most common reason aid is late in a second year.
Schools apply academic progress standards covering grade average, the proportion of attempted credits completed, and a maximum time to finish. Falling below any of them can suspend aid, and the standards are published by each school.
Where that happens there is an appeal process, usually requiring an explanation of what went wrong and what has changed. Appeals are frequently granted with conditions attached, which makes raising it early worthwhile.
Changes in enrolment intensity, household circumstances or programme can all affect a package mid-year. Telling the aid office before making the change produces better options than telling them afterwards.
What to do next. Reapply each year ahead of the earliest deadline, and read your school's academic progress standards before you need them.
studentaid.gov outranks this page. Rules, figures and dates change
between academic years. This is written to help you read the official sources, not to
stand in front of them. Start there.
Nothing here is a determination. We cannot tell you what you qualify
for, and no website can. The programme and the office that runs it decide that, after
you apply.
Still have a question?
Describe what you are trying to work out and a member of the team will answer, or direct you to the office that makes the decision.