Did you fail to register with the Selective Service and are now seeking financial aid?

Hello readers,

I have applied and been accepted to graduate school. For my undergraduate education, I relied on a private loan. However, for graduate school, I am relying on Federal Financial Aid (FAFSA), and I just found that all males who failed to register with the Selective Service before turning 26, are deemed “ineligible” for federal financial aid. I am seeking other in a similar situation, so that we can get together and create a national network to bring this issue to light and create more conversations and eventually bring it up to legislators. I found out that there is a huge number of males across the U.S. who are under the same circumstances. Many have had experienced challenges while growing up and now many of them are willing and trying to return to school to become productive members of society, but their failure to register with the Selective Service is cutting their dream short. If you are one of them, message me.

I’m going to be a stinker here.

Why didn’t you register for the selective service when you should have?

It’s important to understand the regulations requiring selective service registration in order to receive federal aid (Title IV of the HEA). You propose to affect changes to something that has been enacted by Congress, and the legislation is not on the financial aid side … it’s on the military side. From the Federal Register: “Section 12(f) of the Military Selective Service Act, as amended [50 U.S.C. App. 462(f)], denies eligibility for any form of assistance or benefit under Title IV of the HEA to any person required to present himself and submit to registration under Section 3 of the Military Selective Service Act who fails to do so in accordance with that section and any rules and regulations issued under that section.”

There are other problems too. You won’t be able to have a federal job (or most federal jobs) as it is a question on the application.

No sympathy here. You’re expecting taxpayers to subsidize you yet you couldn’t be bothered to fill out a form in return? Choices have consequences.

Sorry, but until the law is changed, it’s still the law. You need to register, if you still can.