1099 Form, 1040A Form, 1040EZ Form: Federal Income Tax Return. Every person who has received income during the previous year must file a form 1040 with the IRS by April 15.
1099 Form: Form used by business to report income paid to a non-employee. Banks use this form to report interest income.
Academic Year: An academic year is one complete school year at the same school, or two complete, half years at different schools. For schools that have a year-round program of instruction, nine months is considered an academic year.
Accredited: Accreditation of U.S. educational institutions is done by regional and specialized accrediting associations. The U.S. Department of Education recognizes accrediting bodies for purposes of institutional financial aid eligibility and other areas in which the federal government has an interest.
Adjusted Gross Income (AGI): Adjusted gross income, also known as (AGI), is defined as total income minus deductions, or "adjustments" to income that you are eligible to take.
Advanced Placement Test (AP): Test used to earn credit for college subjects studied in high school. They are offered by ETS in the spring. AP tests are scored on a scale from 1 to 5 (the best possible score).
American College Test (ACT): One of the two national standardized college entrance examinations used in the US. The other is the SAT. The ACT is widely used in the West and Midwest. Most universities require either the ACT or the SAT as part of an application for admission.
Annual Taxable Income: Your annual taxable income is the amount of income used to determine how much tax you owe in a given year. This can include wages, salaries, bonuses, tips, investment income, and unearned income.
Asset: An item of value, such as a family’s home, business, and farm equity, real estate, stocks, bonds, mutual funds, cash, certificates of deposit (CDs), bank accounts, trust funds and other property and investments.
Associate Degree: The degree granted by two-year colleges.
Award Letter: An official document issued by a school’s 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 (FAN)”.
Award Year: School year for which financial aid is used to fund a student’s education. Generally, this is the 12-month period that begins on July 1 of one year and ends on June 30 of the following year.
Bachelor’s Degree: The undergraduate degree granted by four-year colleges and universities.
Below Half Time: A student who is enrolled in 5 or less credits is considered below half-time and may not be eligible for most types of financial aid.
Bursar’s Office: (Also called Student Accounts Office) The university office that is responsible for the billing and collection of university charges.
Calendar Year: The calendar year runs from January 1 to December 31.
Commuter Student: A student who lives at home and commutes to school every day.
Cost of Attendance: The total cost of attending college, including tuition and general fees; room and board; lab fees; books; travel costs; supplies; and sometimes child care. The cost of attendance varies by school and is determined by each academic institution.
Cost of Tuition and Fees: Tuition and general fees (excluding housing, etc.).
Doctorate: One of several degrees granted by graduate schools.
Enrollment Status: An indication of whether you are a full-time or part-time student. Generally you must be enrolled at least half-time (and in some cases full-time) to qualify for financial aid.
Federal Work-study: provides part-time jobs for undergraduate and graduate students with financial need.
Fellowship: 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 in lieu of tuition. Most fellowships include a stipend to cover reasonable living expenses. Fellowships are a form of gift aid and do not have to be repaid.
Financial aid packages: A financial aid package is the total amount of financial aid (federal and nonfederal) a student is offered by a college or career school. The school's financial aid staff combines various forms of aid into a "package" to help meet a student's education costs.
Financial Aid: Financial aid is money to help pay for college or career school.
FSA ID: An FSA ID is an account username and password combination that gives you access to U.S. Department of Education online systems and can serve as your legal signature when completing electronic documents. Create an FSA ID: https://studentaid.gov/fsa-id/create-account/launch
Full Time: An undergraduate student who is enrolled for 12 credits or more is generally considered to be attending full-time. A graduate student is generally considered full-time when enrolled for 9 or more credits.
Gift Aid: Financial aid, such as grants and scholarships, which does not need to be repaid.
Grade Point Average (GPA): An average of a student’s grades, converted to a 4.0 scale Some schools use a 5.0 scale for the GPA.
Graduate Assistantship: There are two types of graduate assistantships: teaching assistantships (TA) and research assistantships (RA). TAs and RAs receive a full or partial tuition waiver and a small living stipend. TAs are required to perform teaching duties. RAs are required to perform research duties, not necessarily related to the student’s thesis research.
Graduate or Professional Student: A graduate or professional student is a student who is pursuing education opportunities beyond an undergraduate (bachelor's) degree. Graduate and professional programs include master's and doctoral programs such as Ph.D., J.D., and M.D., among others.
Grant: A grant is a monetary gift for people pursuing higher education. It is often based on financial need and does not need to be repaid (unless, for example, you withdraw from school and owe a refund).
Gross Income: Gross income is your total annual income from wages and other sources, before certain deductions and taxes are calculated.
Income: The amount of money received from employment (salary, wages, tips), profit from financial instruments (interest, dividends, capital gains), or other sources (welfare, disability, child support, Social Security and pensions).
Independent: An independent student is at least 24 years old as of January 1 of the academic year, is married, is a graduate or professional student, has a legal dependent other than a spouse, is a veteran of the US Armed Forces, or is an orphan or ward of the court (or was a ward of the court until age 18). A parent refusing to provide support for their child’s education is not sufficient for the child to be declared independent.
Internship: 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 precursor to professional employment. Some internships provide very close supervision by a mentor in an apprenticeship-like relationship. Some internships provide the student with a stipend, some don’t.
Master’s Degree: One of several degrees granted by graduate schools.
Merit-Based: Merit-based means that something is based on a student's skill or ability. For example, a merit-based scholarship might be awarded based on a student's high grades.
Net Income: This is income after taxes, deductions and allowances have been subtracted.
Out-of-State Student: An out-of-state student is a student who is attending a college or career school outside of his or her state of legal residence.
Outside scholarships: An outside scholarship is a scholarship awarded by an organization other than the government or your college — scholarships sponsored by your parent's employer or a community organization, for example.
Part-Time: A student who is enrolled for 6 to 8 credits per term is generally considered to be attending part time. Most scholarships do not allow part-time attendance.
PhD: One of several degrees granted by graduate schools.
Post-secondary Education: Post-secondary education in the United States refers to any formal education pursued after high school. This includes universities, colleges, community colleges, and vocational school
Renewable Scholarship: A scholarship that is awarded for more than one year. Usually the student must maintain certain academic standards to be eligible for subsequent years of the award. Some renewable scholarships will require the student to reapply for the scholarship each year; others will just require a report on the student’s progress to a degree.
Room and Board: Room and board is generally the cost of housing and food while attending college or career school.
Scholarship displacement: This can occur when a student receives an outside or private scholarship, which then leads to a reduction in other forms of aid.
Scholarships: Funds used to pay for higher education that do not have to be repaid. Scholarships may be awarded based on any number of criteria, such as academic promise or achievements; special talents; participation in particular groups or activities; or career goals. They can be a one-time gift or are renewable, depending on the scholarship.
Scholastic Assessment Test (SAT): One of the two national standardized college entrance examinations used in the US. The other is the ACT. The SAT (previously known as the Scholastic Aptitude Test) is administered by the Educational Testing Service (ETS). Most universities require either the ACT or the SAT as part of an application for admission.
Student Aid Index (SAI): The Student Aid Index (SAI) is an eligibility index number that your financial aid office uses to determine how much federal student aid you would receive. You can view your official SAI within your FAFSA Submission Summary (after your FAFSA form is processed)
Student Loan: A loan is money you borrow and must pay back with interest. Student loans can come from the federal government, from private sources such as a bank or financial institution, or from other organizations.
The Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA®): is an application students fill out to be considered for federal financial aid.
Transcript: A list of all courses that a student has taken at a particular high school or college, with the grades the student earned in each course.
Transfer Student: A transfer student is a student who has completed some academic credits at a college or university and has requested to enroll at a different institution.
Tuition: Tuition is the amount of money you owe for receiving instruction, materials, and/or supplies, or for the rental or purchase of equipment, for a course of study at your institution.
Undergraduate Student: A student who has graduated from high school or earned a GED and is studying for an associate’s or bachelor's degree.
Untaxed Income: Untaxed income is income that is excluded from federal income taxation under the IRS code. Examples of untaxed income include Supplemental Security Income, child support, alimony, and federal or public assistance.
W2: The form listing an employee’s wages and tax withheld. Employers are required by the IRS to issue a W2 form for each employee each tax year.