FSEOG – Federal Supplemental Education Opportunity Grant

In our previous article we gave an overview of the Federal Supplemental Education Opportunity Grant or FSEOG in short. This article continues from where we left off. In this article we look at the FSEOG eligibility criteria, how to apply for FSEOG and how the FSEOG funds awarded are disbursed to the student.

What are the eligibility criteria for Federal Supplemental Education Opportunity Grant (FSEOG)?

Since FSEOG is a federal grant, all the rules and eligibility criteria for applying for a need based federal grant that we listed previously apply here as well. Also read more about how to apply for need based financial aid.

In addition to the eligibility criteria for federal funding, the following criteria applies for the Federal Supplemental Education Opportunity Grant(FSEOG).

• The college must be enrolled in the FSEOG program.
• The student must be enrolled in an approved under graduate, bachelor degree program. This must be the applicant’s first bachelor’s degree.
• The applicant must have a minimum GPA score of 2.0.
• The applicant must demonstrate extreme financial need.

FSEOG is awarded to students that show extreme financial difficulties. This is evaluated based on the information submitted by the grant applicant in their FAFSA. Pretty much all federal funding starts with filing a Free application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA). Since the FSEOG is a campus based program, the college financial aid office will evaluate the information in the applicant’s FAFSA to verify if the student does have and demonstrate extreme financial need.

How To apply for FSEOG?

The first step in any application for federal funding is to file the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) at http://www.fafsa.ed.gov. Remember that the application for federal funding is free. Do ensure that you go to the official website (www.fafsa.ed.gov) to file your FAFSA. Once the student has filed the FAFSA, he/she is automatically evaluated for the FSEOG funding. There is no requirement to file a separate application for FSEOG. The information submitted in the FAFSA is utilized to identify eligible students. The granting process for FSEOG is highly competitive and is not guaranteed. Unlike other federal grants such as the Pell grant, FSEOG funds are limited and not replenished. This means if the funds are exhausted, eligible applicants will not receive any funds as part of FSEOG even if they meet all eligibility criteria. Therefore it is important to file your FAFSA early and keep it updated each year without fail.

Filing your FAFSA online is recommended since it will speed the application and review process. Also as suggested, it is wise to update your FAFSA annually in order to be considered for the FSEOG grant and other federally funded programs.

How will the FSEOG funds be received by a student?

Once a student is awarded FSEOG funding, he/she will be notified through mail or email. The money will be disbursed directly to the student’s school which will apply the amount toward tuition, rooming and other education related expenses.

As far as disbursement of financial aid is concerned, the school’s financial aid office usually disburses funds every term. This could be either every semester, trimester or quarter depending on the school term at the applicant’s school. In the event the school in question does not use semester, trimester, or quarter terms then the financial aid office disburses funds twice per academic year.

What is FSEOG?

Federal Supplemental Education Opportunity Grant or FSEOG in short is a need based federal grant formulated to assist low income undergraduate students to help finance the costs of their post secondary education. Since FSEOG is a grant the beneficiary does not have to repay back the amount that is awarded as part of the grant.

FSEOG is a campus based program. What this means is that the grant is administered by the participating school’s financial aid office. The school’s financial aid office will work with you to determine your funding requirements and disbursement of funds. Since the FSEOG is a need based grant from the government, students with extreme financial difficulties and consequently have some of the lowest expected family contribution (EFC) amount based on their FAFSA application are classified as students with exceptional need. These students are given priority over others for the purpose of this grant. In addition, those students that have been awarded the Pell Grant are also considered for the FSEOG on a priority basis.

Across the United States there are approximately 4000 post secondary participating institutions. These institutions apply to the U.S. Department of Education (ED) by submitting a Fiscal Operations Report and Application to Participate (FISAP). Since the FSEOG is a Formula Grant, the U.S Department of Education allocates the funds based on a statutory formula. The allocation is dependent on the institution’s previous funding level and the overall need of the eligible students attending the institution in the previous year. The USDE funds 75% of the grant money to the institutions. The remaining 25% of the grant money is the responsibility of the institution.

How much grant money is awarded to a student as part of FSEOG?

A student can receive anywhere between $100 – $4000 as funding from the FSEOG grant. The final amount awarded to the student really depends on the demonstrated financial need of the student, the funding awarded to the participating school, the financial aid policy of the participating school and the time at which you apply. Do keep in mind that the FSEOG is not intended to pay for your entire year’s tuition fee, instead supplement other grants and awards. The earlier you apply for an FSEOG the more chances you have to be awarded with a larger sum of money.

Being a campus based grant, certain amount of funds is awarded to each participating school every year. Therefore once the funds for the grant have been utilized no further awards can be granted from that program for that year. It is for this reason that is is advised that applications for the FSEOG grant are made as early as possible. Every school will have its own deadlines for disbursement of campus based funds that they manage and typically the deadlines are much earlier than the U.S Department of Education mandated deadline for filing a FAFSA for consideration for federal aid.

To give an estimate, during the fiscal year 2010 a sum of $757,464,800 was awarded by the FSEOG program. The average sum awarded amounted to a student came to about $736. In our next article we will talk about the eligibility criteria for FSEOG, how to apply for FSEOG and how funds are disbursed to the applicant if awarded the Federal Supplemental Education Opportunity Grant.