Acronyms
This document needs to be submitted every academic year to be considered for Federal Financial Aid.
What is the FAFSA?
Verifies student’s claim of U.S. citizenship or U.S. national status
Social Security Administration
(SSA)?
This term refers to anyone who is required to provide information on a student's FAFSA form.
What is a contributor?
This COA category includes a reasonable allowance for travel to school, work, or home, other course-related travel, and vehicle operating costs
What is Transportation?
The formula Cost of Attendance - Student Aid Index
(COA-SAI) =
What is Financial Need?
It is important to know this number for each college you are considering, so you know if you can afford attendance.
What is COA (Cost of Attendance)?
Ensures annual and aggregate limits are not exceeded as well as verifies student’s default and overpayment status.
National Student Loan Data System (NSLDS)?
After submitting the FAFSA, students receive this document summarizing the information they provided and showing their estimated aid eligibility
What is the FAFSA Submission Summary?
This COA category includes the fees charged for processing federal student loans and is added to a student’s budget.
What are loan fees?
This is the term for the formula that calculates the SAI using data provided by the student and family.
What is Federal Methodology (FM)?
The number calculated from the FAFSA which determines a student’s eligibility for need-based aid?
What is SAI (Student Aid Index)?
Verifies student’s eligible noncitizen status through primary confirmation (sometimes called primary verification) and automated secondary confirmation processes.
Department of Homeland Security
(DHS)?
Each contributor on the FAFSA must provide this permission before their federal tax information can be transferred from the IRS
What is consent?
In the student budget process, costs are grouped into these two broad types, one controlled by the school and one not.
What is Institutional and Noninstitutional?
A dependent student’s parent(s) or an independent student who was not required to file taxed will be automatically assigned this negative SAI.
What is -1500?
After a student submits a FAFSA, this electronic record is sent to the colleges listed on the application and used to determine eligibility for aid.
What is ISIR (Institutional Student Information Record)?
Incarcerated Applicant Flag is set if student’s FAFSA mailing address is included in this.
ED Correctional Facility Address
File?
If a FAFSA is not accessed or saved by the student or any contributor within this many days, it will be deleted
What is 45 days?
The frequency with which a school should review and update the value of student budget components.
What is annually?
These formulas are used to calculate the SAI for independent students.
What are formulas B and C?
A secure connection between the IRS and the U.S. Department of Education (ED) that allows the IRS to directly transfer federal tax information (FTI) to the FAFSA form
What is the FA-DDX (Financial Aid Direct Data Exchange)?
ED hold file lists individuals whose eligibility for federal benefits, including student aid, has been suspended or terminated by a judge under the Anti-Drug Abuse Act of 1988.
Department of Justice (DOJ)?
This term refers to a tentative need analysis value provided when a student submits a FAFSA, but indicates they have an Unusual Circumstance.
What is Provisional SAI?
This standard COA component can never be included for students enrolled less than half-time.
What are Miscellaneous or Personal expenses?
This allowance protects a portion of a family’s income for basic living expenses, such as food, housing, and clothing, before determining the SAI.
What is Income Protection Allowance (IPA)?