A
Associate degree - An undergraduate academic degree granted after completion of two years of study. Community colleges and career colleges generally award associate degrees.
B
Bachelor's degree - An undergraduate academic degree awarded for a course of study that generally lasts four years. Colleges or universities generally award bachelor's degrees.
E
Early action - A college admission policy that allows applicants to apply and receive notice of their admission early. Applicants accepted under early action are not under a binding agreement to attend that school and may submit applications to other schools.
Early decision - A college admission policy that allows applicants, who commit to attend that school, to apply and receive notice of their admission early. If the applicant is accepted, he or she agrees to attend that school and must withdraw all other applications.
G
General Educational Development (GED) certificate - A certificate that students receive if they’ve passed a specific, approved high school equivalency test. Students with a GED certificate are eligible to receive federal student aid.
J
Job placement rate - The percentage of graduating students who obtained employment either in the recognized occupation for which they were trained or in a related comparable recognized occupation within a determined timeframe after receiving their degree or certificate.
D
Dependent student - A student who does not meet any of the criteria for an independent student. An independent student is one of the following: at least 24 years old, married, a graduate or professional student, a veteran, a member of the armed forces, an orphan, a ward of the court, someone with legal dependents other than a spouse, an emancipated minor or someone who is homeless or at risk of becoming homeless.
E
Eligible noncitizen - A U.S. national (includes natives of American Samoa or Swains Island), U.S. permanent resident (who has an I-151, I-551 or I-551C [Permanent Resident Card]), or an individual who has an Arrival-Departure Record (I-94) from U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) showing one of the following designations:
"Parolee" (You must be paroled into the United States for at least one year and you must be able to provide evidence from the USCIS that you are in the United States for other than a temporary purpose and that you intend to become a U.S. citizen or permanent resident.)
If you meet the noncitizen criteria above, you are eligible to receive federal student aid. If you are unsure of your eligibility, please check with your school's financial aid office for more information.
F
FAFSA - Free Application for Federal Student Aid
FAFSA4caster - An online tool that provides an early estimate of your federal student aid eligibility to help you financially plan for college.
Federal school code - An identifier that the U.S. Department of Education assigns to each college or career school that participates in the federal student aid programs. In order to send your FAFSA information to a school, you must list the school's Federal School Code on your application. A list of Federal School Codes is available at www.fafsa.gov.
FSA ID - The FSA ID is a username and password combination that serves as a student’s or parent’s identifier to allow access to personal information in various U.S. Department of Education systems and acts as a digital signature on some online forms.
I
Independent student - An independent student is one of the following: at least 24 years old, married, a graduate or professional student, a veteran, a member of the armed forces, an orphan, a ward of the court, or someone with legal dependents other than a spouse, an emancipated minor or someone who is homeless or at risk of becoming homeless. Get additional information to determine your dependency status.
N
Net price calculator - A tool that allows current and prospective students, families, and other consumers to estimate the net price of attending a particular college or career school.
A
Award amount - Amount of aid a school expects to pay a student based on the student’s current grant and loan eligibility, enrollment, Expected Family Contribution (EFC), and the school's cost of attendance.
Award letter - An offer from a college or career school that states the type and amount of financial aid the school is willing to provide if you accept admission and register to take classes at that school.
C
Cost of attendance (COA) - The total amount it will cost you to go to school—usually stated as a yearly figure. COA includes tuition and fees; room and board (or a housing and food allowance); and allowances for books, supplies, transportation, loan fees, and dependent care. It also includes miscellaneous and personal expenses, including an allowance for the rental or purchase of a personal computer; costs related to a disability; and reasonable costs for eligible study-abroad programs. For students attending less than half-time, the COA includes tuition and fees and an allowance for books, supplies, transportation, and dependent care expenses, and can also include room and board for up to three semesters or the equivalent at the institution. But no more than two of those semesters, or the equivalent, may be consecutive. Contact the financial aid administrator at the school you’re planning to attend if you have any unusual expenses that might affect your COA.
D
Direct loan - A federal student loan, made through the William D. Ford Federal Direct Loan Program, for which eligible students and parents borrow directly from the U.S. Department of Education at participating schools. Direct Subsidized Loans, Direct Unsubsidized Loans, Direct PLUS Loans, and Direct Consolidation Loans are types of Direct Loans.
Direct PLUS loan - A loan made by the U.S. Department of Education to graduate or professional students and parents of dependent undergraduate students for which the borrower is fully responsible for paying the interest regardless of the loan status.
E
Expected family contribution (EFC) - This is the number that’s used to determine your eligibility for federal student financial aid. This number results from the financial information you provide in your FAFSA®, the application for federal student aid. Your EFC is reported to you on your Student Aid Report (SAR).
F
Federal student aid programs - The programs authorized under Title IV of the Higher Education Act of 1965 that provide grants, loans and work-study funds from the federal government to eligible students enrolled in college or career school.
Federal student loan - A loan funded by the federal government to help pay for your education. A federal student loan is borrowed money you must repay with interest.
Financial aid offer - The total amount of financial aid (federal and nonfederal) a student is offered by a college or career school. The school's financial aid staff combines various forms of aid into a “package” to help meet a student’s education costs.
Financial aid package - The total amount of financial aid (federal and nonfederal) a student is offered by a college or career school. The school's financial aid staff combines various forms of aid into a “package” to help meet a student’s education costs.
Financial need - The difference between the cost of attendance (COA) at a school and your Expected Family Contribution (EFC). While COA varies from school to school, your EFC does not change based on the school you attend.
G
Grant - Financial aid, often based on financial need, that does not need to be repaid (unless, for example, you withdraw from school and owe a refund).
I
Interest - A loan expense charged for the use of borrowed money. Interest is paid by a borrower to a lender. The expense is calculated as a percentage of the unpaid principal amount of the loan.
Interest rate - The percentage at which interest is calculated on your loan(s).
L
Lifetime eligibility used (LEU) - The amount of all Federal Pell Grant aid (in percentage) awarded to you, divided by the amount of Pell Grant aid you would have been eligible to receive based on full-time enrollment. The amount of Federal Pell Grant funds a student may receive over his or her lifetime is limited by federal law to be the equivalent of six years of Pell Grant funding.
M
Master promissory note - A binding legal document that you must sign when you get a federal student loan. The MPN can be used to make one or more loans for one or more academic years (up to 10 years). It lists the terms and conditions under which you agree to repay the loan and explains your rights and responsibilities as a borrower. It’s important to read and save your MPN because you’ll need to refer to it later when you begin repaying your loan or at other times when you need information about provisions of the loan, such as deferments or forbearances.
S
State aid - Financial aid from a student's state of legal residence.
U
Unsubsidized loan - A loan for which the borrower is fully responsible for paying the interest regardless of the loan status. Interest on unsubsidized loans accrues from the date of disbursement and continues throughout the life of the loan.
V
Verification - The process your school uses to confirm that the data reported on your FAFSA is accurate. Your school has the authority to contact you for documentation that supports income and other information that you reported.
C
Capitalization - The addition of unpaid interest to the principal balance of a loan. When the interest is not paid as it accrues during periods of in-school status, the grace period, deferment, or forbearance, your lender may capitalize the interest. This increases the outstanding principal amount due on the loan and may cause your monthly payment amount to increase. Interest is then charged on that higher principal balance, increasing the overall cost of the loan.
D
Default - Failure to repay a loan according to the terms agreed to in the promissory note. For most federal student loans, you will default if you have not made a payment in more than 270 days. You may experience serious legal consequences if you default.
Default rate - The percentage of borrowers who fail to repay their loans according to the terms of their promissory notes.
Deferment - A postponement of payment on a loan that is allowed under certain conditions and during which interest does not accrue on Direct Subsidized Loans, Subsidized Federal Stafford Loans, and Federal Perkins Loans. All other federal student loans that are deferred will continue to accrue interest. Any unpaid interest that accrued during the deferment period may be added to the principal balance (capitalized) of the loan(s).
E
Exit counseling - A mandatory information session which takes place when you graduate or attend school less than half-time that explains your loan repayment responsibilities and when repayment begins.
F
Forbearance - A period during which your monthly loan payments are temporarily suspended or reduced. Your lender may grant you a forbearance if you are willing but unable to make loan payments due to certain types of financial hardships. During forbearance, principal payments are postponed but interest continues to accrue. Unpaid interest that accrues during the forbearance will be added to the principal balance (capitalized) of your loan(s), increasing the total amount you owe.
G
Grace period - A period of time after borrowers graduate, leave school, or drop below half-time enrollment where they are not required to make payments on certain federal student loans. Some federal student loans will accrue interest during the grace period, and if the interest is unpaid, it will be added to the principal balance of the loan when the repayment period begins.
L
Loan forgiveness - The cancelation of all or some portion of your remaining federal student loan balance. If your loan is forgiven, you are no longer responsible for repaying that remaining portion of the loan.
Loan servicer - A company that collects payments, responds to customer service inquiries, and performs other administrative tasks associated with maintaining a federal student loan on behalf of a lender. If you're unsure of who your federal student loan servicer is, you can look it up in My Federal Student Aid.
Q
Qualifying public services - For the purposes of the Public Service Loan Forgiveness Program, a not-for-profit organization that is not tax-exempt under Section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code is considered a qualifying employer if it provides at least one of the following public services:
Law enforcement includes organizations that are publicly funded and whose principal purposes include crime prevention, control or reduction of crime, or the enforcement of criminal law.
Public health includes organizations that employ nurses, nurse practitioners, nurses in a clinical setting, and full-time professionals engaged in health care practitioner occupations and health support occupations, as such terms are defined by the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
Public interest law refers to legal services provided by an organization that is funded in whole or in part by a local, state, federal, or tribal government.