Do I have to be a full time student to keep my financial aid?

Question

Do I have to be a full time student to keep my financial aid?

Answer 1

At most schools you have to be enrolled for 9 or 12 credit hours to get full time FA.

Answer 2

No, you don't. But your financial aid is scaled down, depending on your registration status.

HOWEVER - you must be enrolled full time for certain financial aid programs, and at least half-time for other programs.

To retain eligibility for the Academic Competitiveness Grant (ACG) or the National Science and Mathematics Access to Retain Talent (SMART) grant, you must be registered full time.

Half-time registration is sufficient to qualify for assistance from the Stafford and PLUS loan programs.

There is no minimum registration requirement for the Pell grant or work-study programs, BUT the amount of Pell that you qualify for is directly determined by your enrollment status.  (if you're a full time student you would get $X, but a three-quarter time students would receive less than that, a half time student less than that, etc.)

Because work-study is a campus-based form of federal aid, the school can reserve the right to offer its available work-study funds to full time students first.

Your school may (and probably does) have its own enrollment standards for non-federal (institutional) financial aid funds. (and probably favors full-time students)

I hope that helps - good luck!