To receive aid from most of the student aid programs described on this web page, you must:

• Have financial need, except for some loan programs.
• Have a high school diploma or a General Education Development (GED)* Certificate, pass a test approved by the U.S. Department of Education, or meet other standards your state established that are approved by the U.S. Department of Education.
  • *General Education Development (GED) Certificate: A certificate students receive if they've passed a specific, approved high school equivalency test. Students, who don't have a high school diploma, but who have a GED, may still qualify for federal student aid. A school that admits students without a high school diploma must make a GED program in the vicinity of the school available to these students and must inform them about the program.
  • Be enrolled or accepted for enrollment as a regular student* working toward a degree or certificate in an eligible program*. (You may not receive aid for correspondence or telecommunications courses unless they are part of an associate, bachelor's, or graduate degree program).

    *Regular Student: One who is enrolled in an institution to obtain a degree or certificate. Generally, to receive aid from the programs discussed on this home page, you must be a regular student. (For some programs, there are exceptions to this requirement. See the definition of eligible program).

    *Eligible Program: A course of study that leads to a degree or certificate and meets the U.S. Department of Education's requirements for an eligible program. To get federal financial aid, you must be enrolled in an eligible program, with two exceptions:

1) If CSUB has told you that you must take certain coursework to qualify for admission into one of its eligible programs, you can get a Direct Loan (or your parents can get a PLUS Loan) for up to 12 consecutive months while you're completing that coursework. You must be enrolled at least half-time*, and you must meet the usual student aid eligibility requirements.

2) If you're enrolled at least half-time* in a program to obtain a professional credential or certification required by a state for employment as an elementary or secondary school teacher, you can possibly receive Pell Grant, a Federal Perkins Loan, Federal Work-Study, a Direct Loan, (or your parents can get a PLUS Loan) while you're enrolled in that program.

*Half-time: CSUB measures progress by credit hours and quarters. Half-time enrollment for undergraduate and credential students is 6-8 quarter hours per term. Graduate students receive 1.5 times the normal unit value for courses numbered 500 and above.

• Be a U.S. citizen or eligible noncitizen*.

  *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 a 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.

NOTE: Citizens and eligible noncitizens may also receive loans from the FFEL and Direct Loan programs at participating foreign schools.

Citizens of the Federated States of Micronesia, the Republic of the Marshall Islands, and Palau are eligible only for Federal Pell Grants, Federal Supplemental Educational Opportunity Grants (FSEOGs), or Federal Work-Study.

• have a valid Social Security Number
• make satisfactory academic progress*.

*Satisfactory Academic Progress: To be eligible to receive student aid, you must maintain satisfactory academic progress toward a degree or certificate. You must meet CSUB's written standard of satisfactory progress as described in the Student Requirements Section of this home page.

• sign a statement on the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) certifying that you will use student aid only for educational purposes.
• Sign a statement on the FAFSA certifying that you are not in default* on a federal student loan and that you do not owe money back on a federal student grant.

*Default: Failure to repay a loan according to the terms agreed to when you signed a promissory note*. Default also may result from failure to submit requests for deferment or cancellation on time.

*Promissory Note: The binding legal document you sign when you get a student loan. It lists the conditions under which you're borrowing and the terms under which you agree to pay back the loan. It will include information about your interest rate and about deferment and cancellation provisions. It's very important to read and save this document because you'll need to refer to it later when you begin repaying your loan.

• Register with the Selective Service,* if required

If you are a male 18 through 25 years of age and you have not yet registered with Selective Service, you can give Selective Service permission to register you by checking a box on the FAFSA. You can also register through the Internet at: www.sss.gov

*Selective Service Registration: If required by law, you must register, or arrange to register, with the Selective Service to receive federal student aid. The requirement to register applies to males who were born on or after January 1, 1960, are at least 18 years old, are citizens or eligible noncitizens, and are not currently on active duty in the U.S. Armed Forces. (Citizens of the Federated States of Micronesia, the Marshall Islands, or Palau are exempt from registering).

Financial aid applicants should keep in mind that when you apply for federal aid, the U.S. Department of Education verifies some of your information with the following federal agencies:

• Social Security Administration (for verification of Social Security Numbers and U.S. citizenship status)
• Selective Service System (for verification of Selective Service registration status, if applicable)
• Immigration and Naturalization Service (for verification of eligible noncitizenship status, if applicable)
• Department of Justice (for verification that a student has not been denied Federal student aid by the courts as the result of a drug-related conviction)
• Veterans Administration (for verification of veterans status, if applicable, for dependency status purpose.