Federal Work Study
Key Terms & Definitions
All About the FAFSA
Satisfactory Academic Progress (SAP)
Types of Aid
100

The maximum number of hours a student can work per week while school is in session

What is 20 hours?

100

Aid that does not need to be repaid, such as grants and scholarships

What is gift aid?

100

An eligibility index that a college uses to determine how much aid a student will receive 

What is the student aid index (SAI)?

100

This is the required minimum GPA needed in order to graduate from college

What is 2.0?

100
This is a type of federal aid that a parent, step-parent, or adoptive parent can use to cover gap funding for a student

What is a Parent PLUS loan (Direct PLUS loan)?

200

The form that a student must complete once they have been hired for a position and is approved by the financial aid office

What is a Student Employment Agreement?

200

The type of costs that students will have to pay for that are not listed on their bill, such as transportation and books.

What are indirect costs?

200

The username and password that students use to access all Federal Student Aid websides

What is an FSA ID?

200

The process in which students have to request to have their financial aid eligibility restored

What is a SAP appeal?
200

A type of gift aid that is determined by admissions based on a student's high school GPA

What is a merit scholarship?

300

The platform that a student visits to apply for a work study job

What is Handshake?


300

A federal review process that ensures that the information submitted on the FAFSA is correct

What is verification?

300

The status of a student that completes a FAFSA without parental information due to unusual circumstances

What is provisionally independent?

300

The status a student is placed in when they are not making SAP for the first time that allows them to receive one semester of financial aid on probation

What is a financial aid SAP warning?

300
Need-based grant provided by the federal government to undergraduate students with exceptional financial need

What is SEOG (Supplemental Education Opportunity Grant)?

400

Under federal regulations, this percentage of student's FWS earnings can come from the federal government, while the institution must cover the remainder

What is 75%

400

A college's total estimated expenses for one year that is used to determine each student's eligibility for financial aid

What is cost of attendance?

400

This was signed into law in 2020, expanding access to federal student aid, and mandates Federal Student Aid to use data directly from the IRS

What is the Future Act?

400

The term that explains the percentage of courses a student must complete to maintain SAP; also known as the pace at which a student must progress

What is quantitative measurement or quantitative assessment?

400

Chapter 31, Chapter 35, and the GI Bill are examples of this type of aid

What are VA Benefits?

500

This act created the Federal Work-Study program in 1964 as part of a broader initiative to help students finance their education

What is the Higher Education Act?


500

The student's cost of attendance minus their Student Aid Index

What is need (or financial need)?

500

The last day that a student can submit a FAFSA form in any given award year

What is June 30th?

500

A document  that must be submitted with an appeal if it will take more than one semester for a student to make SAP

What is an academic plan?

500

A reciprocal scholarship opportunity for the dependents of eligible faculty and staff at a participating member school

What is Tuition Exchange?