What is a Grant?

Grants are a type of financial aid that does not have to be repaid. Generally, grants are for undergraduate students, and the grant amount is based on need, cost of attendance, and enrollment status. Students must meet eligibility requirements to qualify, and this type of aid can come from multiple sources which include federal government, state government and the college of your choice.

The federal government provides need-based federal aid called Federal Student Financial Aid, which is composed of different programs, grants, scholarships, work-study and loan programs. The available grants include Pell grants, FSEOG Grants, SMART Grants, and Academic Competitiveness Grants (ACG). Students need to apply for need-based federal student aid by completing the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) ( http://www.fafsa.ed.gov) annually. The FAFSA will determine a student's "Expected Family Contribution (EFC)" toward his or her college education for that year. Colleges will use this to decide what types of financial aid a student is eligible to receive.