Office of Financial Aid & Scholarships
Citizen/Eligible Noncitizen
You must be one of the following to receive federal student aid:
- U.S. citizen
- U.S. national (includes natives of American Samoa or Swain’s
Island)
- U.S. permanent resident who has an I-151, I-551, or I-551C (Alien Registration Receipt Card)
If you’re not in one of these categories, you must have an Arrival-Departure Record (I-94) from the U.S. Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS) showing one of the following designations in order to be eligible:
- “Refugee”
- “Asylum Granted”
- “Indefinite Parole” and/or “Humanitarian Parole”
- “Cuban-Haitian Entrant, Status Pending”
- “Conditional Entrant” (valid only if issued before April 1, 1980)
If you have only a Notice of Approval to Apply for Permanent Residence (I-171 or I-464), you aren’t eligible for federal student aid.
If you’re in the United States on an F1 or F2 student visa only, or on a J1 or J2 exchange visitor visa only, you can’t get federal student aid. Also, persons with G series visas (pertaining to international organizations) are not eligible for federal student aid.
Citizens of the Federated States of Micronesia, the Republic of the Marshall Islands, and the Republic of Palau are eligible only for Federal Pell Grants, FSEOGs, or Federal Work-Study. These applicants should check with their financial aid administrators for more information.
Source: The Guide to Federal Student Aid 2007-2008, From the U.S. Department of Education.