<p>Hello,
This is my first post but I've been trying to read up as many older threads on the subject as possible, so forgive me if I'm reposting a question.</p>
<p>I'm 24 years old and I am trying to return to school. I spent time at two other colleges in the past and have some transfer credits towards the degree I would like to be working on and believe that I may be able to spend less than 3 years time in school, but I would still like to maximize my financial aid and have been more recently attempting to eliminate all my current debt.</p>
<p>I completed this years FAFSA on new years day with estimated earnings, and then corrected it later, my EFC is approx. 3500. My schools maximum yearly cost for me living on campus would be 20,178 however I plan to live off campus and save some money.</p>
<p>On top of that I am a veteran entitled to the Select Reserve G.I. Bill. (Approx $317/month while attending full time.) </p>
<p>I have signed up on a few scholarship websites in an attempt to amass as many scholarships as I can, but one thing I am still confused about is Federal and State aid. Am I not able to take an unsubsidized stafford loan or to receive a Pell grant because I was already a student? Also, I am a resident of Pennsylvania and our state aid is from PHEAA, what types of things can I do that will maximize that amount of aid I can receive?</p>
<p>I believe you are eligible for federal grants/ loans if you don't already have a degree.</p>
<p>For PHEEA grants, you would have to be attending school in PA.</p>
<p>PHEAA</a> - Pennsylvania Higher Education Assistance Agency have you applied?</p>
<p><a href="http://www.pheaa.org/specialprograms/pdf/VETERANS.pdf%5B/url%5D">http://www.pheaa.org/specialprograms/pdf/VETERANS.pdf</a></p>
<p>I think there may be state aid for outside PA, but I can't find it on the website for the life of me. I know my son is in a NY school and couldn't get a PA state grant for use in NY</p>
<p>Assuming you do not already have a degree, you should be eligible for the Pell and for Stafford loans as long as your cumulative GPA is ok and number of credits (and all attempted credit hours) are not in excess of the number allowed for your degree. A lot of schools set this at @ 150% of credits for the degree - for instance if your degree will require 120 credits then you become ineligible for federal aid at @ 180 credits (including attempted hours, Ws etc). Your school should have their policies posted somewhere - try a search for SAP or Satisfactory Academic Progress.</p>
<p>If all these things are ok you should qualify for federal aid. If they are not it is possible to appeal and sometimes aid can be granted on appeal. For instance sometimes you are allowed aid if you have completely changed degree paths and previous credits do not count. Or if you have too many withdrwals they may grant an appeal if you can show a good reason why this happened. This is very much a case by case basis with the school.</p>