Can I Use Federal Financial Aid to Attend an Online School?

Absolutely. Whether a school is online or not doesn’t affect financial aid directly in any way.

Your ability to receive financial aid is determined by the school's accreditation status, whether or not you fill out the applications appropriately, and whether you are taking enough credits to qualify. Do all of those things, and you can get federal money (assuming you qualify for financial aid—most of it is need-based).

That said, there are several ways that your choice to attend an online school could affect your financial aid situation.

First, a lot of people who go to school online are working people.  They are often taking just one class at a time. Federal financial aid is really designed to support people who are full-time students, so you would get little help going to school part-time. There is also really no support for students who are trying one class at a specific school, to see if they like it.  The term the federal financial aid people like to use is “degree-seeking.” You need to choose a program and commit to it to be awarded aid.

Second, a lot of people who go to school online do it because they can’t find the classes they need locally, and they end up taking classes from more than one online school. Federal financial aid is designed to support students who are attending one school. It isn’t set up to pay for classes at more than one school. This also fits with the idea that a student must be “degree-seeking.” Only one college gives your degree, so financial aid only applies to one school.

Third, even though some online schools have left the old school schedules behind (they start classes more often than traditional schools, and at different times), federal financial aid is still anchored to the idea of the academic year. This means that if your college is one of those that offers accelerated classes, you may have to sign up for a number of classes to show that you’re committed to enough coursework.

Fourth and finally, because some schools have changed schedules, you may have more challenges getting clear answers than a student at a traditional college. For example, the financial aid department at the local state college could give students dates: “If you submitted all of your paperwork by the deadline, your financial aid will be available by Day X.” Since a lot of online students are taking classes at different paces and starting at individual times, you are more likely to get a range of dates (like “45-60 days after you submitted the last…”).

A lot of online schools provide good guidance for their students: they have checklists, videos, and advisors who are available by email and phone. You might look at some of these checklists for more detail.