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Financial Aid Glossary

Financial aid has its own vocabulary. To help you speak the language, here are the most commonly used terms and acronyms.
 

ACT     American College Testing Program
AFDC  Aid to Families with Dependent Children
AP       Advanced Placement
BIA      Bureau of Indian Affairs
CLEP College-Level Examination Program
COA   Cost of Attendance
CPS   Central Processing System
CSS   College Scholarship Service
CWS  College Work-Study
ED      US Department of Education
EFC    Expected Family Contribution
EFT     Electronic Funds Transfer
ELO    Expanded Lending Option
ESAR Electronic Student Aid Report
ETS    Educational Testing Service
FAA     Financial Aid Administrator
FAF     Financial Aid Form
FAFSA Free Application for Federal Student Aid
FAO     Financial Aid Office
FAT      Financial Aid Transcript
FDSLP Federal Direct Student Loan Program
FFELP Federal Family Education Loan Program
FSEOG Federal Supplemental Educational Opportunity Grant
FM         Federal Methodology
FWS     Federal Work-Study
GPA     Grade Point Average
GSL     Guaranteed Student Loan
HEAL   Health Education Assistance Loan
HHS     US Department of Health and Human Services
HPSL   Health Profession Student Loan
IM          Institutional Methodology
IRA       Individual Retirement Account
IRS       Internal Revenue Service
ISIR      Institutional Student Information Report
MDE     Multiple Data Entry
NHSC National Health Corps Scholarship
NMSQT National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test
NSL       Nursing Student Loan
PC         Parent Contribution
PCL       Primary Care Loan
PHEAA Pennsylvania Higher Education Assistance Agency
PJ          Professional Judgment
PLUS    Parent Loan for Undergraduate Students
PSAT     Preliminary Scholastic Assessment Test
RA          Research Assistantship
ROTC    Reserve Officer Training Corps
SAP       Satisfactory Academic Progress
SAR       Student Aid Report
SAT        Scholastic Assessment Test
SC          Student Contribution
SEOG    Supplemental Educational Opportunity Grant
SLMA     Student Loan Marketing Association
SLS       Supplemental Loan for Students
SSIG     State Student Incentive Grants
TA          Teaching Assistantship
TOEFL   Test Of English As A Foreign Language
USED    US Department of Education
VA           Veterans Administration