Education

The US Department of Education's Office of Elementary and Secondary Education does not currently provide any funding for home schooling. Many states require that home schooled children take the GED to be eligible for state aid for college. To be eligible for federal student aid, the student must pass an independently administered test that is used to determine the student's ability to benefit from postsecondary education. Tests approved by the US Department of Education include the ACT, ASVAB, ASSET, BEST, ETS TALS forms A and B, GED, PSAT, SAT, SLEP, TABE, TOEFL and several others. Call 1-800-4-FED-AID for a full list of approved tests. You can call the National Home Study Council at 1-202-234-5100 or writing to the Executive Director, National Home Study Council, 1601 18th Street, NW, Washington, DC 20009 for additional information. Also you can call the Office of the Secretary of the US Department of Education at 1-202-401-1365.

The Award Letter is an official document issued by the schools financial aid office that lists all of the financial aid awarded to the student. This letter provides details on their analysis of your financial need and the breakdown of your financial aid package according to amount, source and type of aid. The award letter will include the terms and conditions for the financial aid and information about the cost of attendance. You are required to sign a copy of the letter, indicating whether you accept or decline each source of aid, and return it to the financial aid office. Some schools call the award letter the Financial Aid Notification.

Endowment Funds are funds owned by an institution and invested to produce income to support the operation of the institution. Many educational institutions use a portion of their endowment income for financial aid. A school with a larger ratio of endowment per student is more likely to give larger financial aid packages.

Fellowship is a form of aid given to graduate students to help support their education. Some fellowships include a tuition waiver or a payment to the university instead of tuition. Most fellowships include an amount to cover reasonable living expenses. Fellowships are a form of gift aid and do not have to be repaid.

A Financial Aid Transcript also abbreviated as (FAT) is a record of all federal aid received by the student at each school attended. If you have previously attended an institution of higher education and are now applying for financial aid from the different university, the university will require a Financial Aid Transcript from each of the schools previously attended, regardless of whether aid was received or not. They are required to do this by federal law. You have to submit a Financial Aid Transcript even if you were in high school at the time. An electronic Financial Aid Transcript process will be in place soon which will eliminate the need for the student to submit a FAT. The FAT is not the same as an academic transcript.

Graduate Assistantships are either teaching assistantships or research assistantships. Teaching assistantships and research assistantships receive a full or partial tuition waiver and a small living amount. Teaching assistantships are required to perform teaching duties. Research assistantships are required to perform research duties not necessarily related to the student's thesis research.

Internship is a part time job during the academic year or the summer months in which a student receives supervised practical training in a their field. Internships are often very closely related to the student's academic and career goals, and may serve as a preparer to professional employment. Some internships provide very close supervision by a mentor in an apprenticeship like relationship. Some internships provide the student with monetary compensation.

Selective Service Registration for the military draft is required for financial aid. Male students who are U.S. citizens and have reached the age of 18 and were born after December 31, 1959 must be registered with the Selective Service to be eligible for Federal financial aid. If the student did not register and is past the age of doing so (18-25), and the school determines that the failure to register was knowing and willful, the student is ineligible for all federal student financial aid programs. The schools decision as to whether the failure to register was willful is not subject to appeal. Students needing help resolving problems concerning their Selective Service registration should call 1-847-688-6888.

Research Assistantship is a form of financial aid awarded to graduate students to help support their education. Research assistantships usually provide the graduate student with a waiver of all or part of tuition, plus a small amount for living expenses. A Research Assistantship is required to perform research duties. Sometimes these duties are strongly tied to the student's eventual thesis topic.