Cover Story: Do You Know What the Eligibility Criteria Is for Completing a FAFSA?

Crisp air, ice-blue skies, and the changing colors of the leaves signal the transition to October. While most people associate October with Halloween and fall activities, it’s also when the most completed financial aid forms launch for the new academic year. Yes, everybody, we’ve made it to the 2026-27 FAFSA form launch! After a successful soft launch in September, the 2026-27 FAFSA form officially became available on October 1.

As high school students complete their college applications and place their finishing touches on their college essays, now is the time to consider when to complete the FAFSA form. Most colleges and universities have deadlines for receiving a student’s FAFSA form. There were minimal disruptions to the FAFSA form in the 2025-26 award cycle after a disastrous rollout in the 2024-25 award cycle. Students can confidently complete their FAFSA form on www.studentaid.gov.

A question first-time college students ponder is what makes them eligible for the FAFSA? And that’s a great question because money is often left untapped due to a misunderstanding of what qualifies a student for federal financial aid assistance. Federal Student Aid must follow statutory laws and regulations on what deems a student eligible for federal assistance. Generally, students must meet the following eligibility criteria to complete a FAFSA form and receive federal student aid assistance:

• Demonstrate financial need for need-based federal student aid programs.

The results of your FAFSA form play a pivotal role in determining your eligibility for need-based aid such as grants, loans, and work-study. By completing the form accurately, you are taking a proactive step towards understanding and managing your financial aid package.

To qualify for a subsidized loan, the Financial Aid Office will use the SAI figure to determine the amount of financial need you have remaining in your cost of attendance budget. Remaining financial need also plays a crucial role in your eligibility for federal work study, a campus-based program that allows eligible students to earn wages for work performed.

A completed FAFSA is necessary before a financial aid office can consider your need-based assistance eligibility. Students are often surprised that they qualify for a need-based loan or work study. For instance, a need-based grant like a Pell Grant or a supplemental grant such as the Federal Supplemental Educational Opportunity Grant (FSEOG) award could be available. So, even if you don’t think there’s a possibility of receiving a need-based grant, untapping access to these other sources of need-based assistance can offer relief when preparing for the financing component of your education.

• Be a U.S. citizen or an eligible noncitizen.

This requirement is generally straightforward, but there are a few things to remember. When a student completes a form, the FAFSA Processing System (FPS) checks the student’s personally identifiable information, such as date of birth and social security number, with federal databases to confirm a student’s citizenship status. If a match comes back unsuccessful, a student may not be eligible for federal student aid unless they provide a citizenship document confirming their U.S. citizenship status.

Eligible noncitizens, such as permanent residents, may not have accurate records with the Social Security Administration. In those cases, financial aid offices recommend that you have easy access to your green card so a financial aid administrator can decide on your eligible noncitizen status.

Students who cannot confirm their citizenship status are ineligible for federal assistance.

• Have a valid Social Security number.

Students applying for federal aid must have a valid Social Security number, except for a few odd circumstances. Be careful to enter this number into your FAFSA form, as an invalid Social Security number will cause numerous rejections of your FAFSA record submission. High school students may need to ask their parents or legal guardians for this document. Students who have previously submitted an FAFSA form will have their Social Security number automatically filled in on the new award year FAFSA form.

• Be enrolled or accepted for enrollment as a regular student in an eligible degree program or certificate program.

Not all programs at a college or university qualify for federal student aid assistance. For instance, certificate programs at Goldey-Beacom College are ineligible for federal student aid funding. Typically, most schools can award federal student aid for associate’s, baccalaureate, graduate, postgraduate, and doctoral degree programs. Select certificate programs at other institutions may be eligible for federal aid funding. However, certificate programs have many more restrictions than regular degree programs.

• Maintain satisfactory academic progress in college.

While this point may not apply to first-time college students, it’s a crucial consideration for returning students. Maintaining satisfactory academic progress is not just a requirement for federal assistance, but also a reflection of your commitment to your education.

• Provide consent and approval to transfer your federal tax information into your FAFSA form.

A significant change to the FAFSA form under the FAFSA Simplification Act was the requirement that students and their contributors’ consent and agree to have their federal tax information transferred directly into their FAFSA form. Failure to consent may result in a rejection of the FAFSA form. A student can input their federal tax information manually into the FAFSA form. However, this should only be done in exceptional circumstances, as it may result in increased scrutiny of your submitted FAFSA form by the FPS or a financial aid office. Increased scrutiny of the FAFSA form may result in verification of your FAFSA data elements, which can decrease the speedy processing times of your federal student aid awards.

• Sign the certification statement on the FAFSA form stating that you’re not in default on a federal student loan, you do not owe money on a federal student grant, and you’ll only use federal student aid for educational purposes.

Like other legal documents, falsely certifying the FAFSA form can result in severe penalties, such as the inability to receive federal student aid assistance at schools participating in the federal student aid programs. Carefully read all statements before signing and certifying the FAFSA form. If you have any questions regarding the terminology you are reading or need clarification, please get in touch with your school’s financial aid office or Federal Student Aid directly.

• Show you’re qualified to obtain a college or career school education.

To meet this requirement, you’ll need one of the following: a high school diploma or state-recognized equivalent such as a GED certificate; a completed high school education in a state-approved home school setting; or an ability-to-benefit alternative. Students without one of these credentials may not receive federal student aid access. Financial aid administrators may request documentation during the verification process to substantiate a student’s claim that they’ve earned a high school diploma or other equivalent credential.

Although this is not an exhaustive list of the eligibility criteria for receiving federal student aid, it is the nucleus of the eligibility criteria necessary to submit a FAFSA form. Comprehending the various eligibility criteria components makes it easier to understand why you may or may not be eligible for federal student aid. When you doubt an eligibility criterion requirement, speak to a financial aid administrator at your institution or contact the Office of Federal Student Aid directly to learn more about the requirement.