As promised, here is the next installment on Federal Student Aid programs.

Federal Supplemental Educational Opportunity Grant (FSEOG)

This program is also a grant program, meaning if you receive it, you do not have to repay it! This award is intended for undergraduate students with exceptional financial need. In most instances Pell Grant recipients take priority over all other students. The awards can range any where from $100-$4000 over the course of one year.

The biggest point to remember with this grant is that there are limited funds available. Unlike the Pell grant, where all eligible students are guaranteed funds, the FSEOG grant is given out by individual schools on a first come first serve basis. I posted recently about the time sensitive nature of many awards and this is chief among those. At my school, we are given an amount each year (say $250,000). We will begin to award that money out to students who qualify for the grant and who have completed their FAFSA application. We simply line the eligible students up based on when their application was completed, and award until the money is gone!

With that being said, many schools have much larger amounts to award than $250,000. But still APPLY EARLY!

Academic Competitiveness Grant

Once again, a grant that does not have to be repaid. This is a grant based solely on your academics coming out of high school and being eligible for the Pell Grant. The rule states that you must have completed a “rigorous” program of study while attending high school. “Rigorous” is left up to the school’s discretion, but it is based on the classes you take and your GPA in those classes. The first year award is up to $750 and the second year, the award jumps up to $1300.

If you have any questions about whether your academic program would meet the “rigorous” standards for the ACG Grant, simple contact your target schools and see what they require.

Tomorrow: More Federal grants!!!