Federal Student Aid
The FSA Programs are the largest source of college financial assistance, each year providing billions of dollars in funding through a variety of methods: as gift aid in the form of grants (money that does not have to be repaid) and as self-help aid in the form of work study (job earnings) and loans (money that must be paid back at interest). The FSA programs comprise:
- Pell grants
- Academic Competitiveness grants (ACGs)
- National Science and Mathematics Access to Retain Talent (SMART) grants
- Teacher Education Assistance for College and Higher Education (TEACH) grants
- Subsidized and unsubsidized Stafford loans, available either through the Direct Loan (DL) Program or the Federal Family Education Loan (FFEL) Program
- PLUS loans for parents and graduate/professional students (also available through the DL or FFEL programs)
- Consolidation loans (DL or FFEL)
- Federal Work Study (FWS)
- Perkins loans
- Federal Supplemental Educational Opportunity Grants (FSEOG)
The last three—FWS, Perkins loans, and FSEOG—are known collectively as the Campus-based Programs. Loans through the DL Program come directly from the U.S. government, while loans through the FFEL Program come from private lenders such as banks.
