FAFSA Renewal
You must renew your FAFSA each year in the fall to keep your financial aid. The renewal FAFSA application is prepopulated with data you reported on the previous year’s FAFSA. Update your tax information and submit your application. For more instructions, see Submit the FAFSA.
Check your FIU student email and MyFIU: You will receive reminder from the Financial Aid Office in the fall when FAFSA becomes available.
Renewal Requirements
Eligibility for renewal depends on you meeting the requirements for your financial aid at the time you renew. Each financial aid program has specific requirements students must meet to continue receiving that aid. Otherwise, you risk permanently losing eligibility for that program. Check the requirements for your financial aid program in Types of Aid or learn about Regaining Eligibility for federal student aid.
Merit-based scholarships have more demanding requirements than other aid programs. See requirements for Bright Futures and Merit Scholarships to make sure you’re on track to keep your scholarship.
Enrollment Requirements
Enrollment requirements are especially important to continue receiving aid. Make sure you take enough classes each semester to meet enrollment requirements at the end of the year when you renew. Keep in mind that classes outside of your chosen field of study might not count. Check enrollment requirements in Types of Aid.
Meeting Satisfactory Academic Progress
To keep your financial aid, you must meet Satisfactory Academic Progress (SAP). This means that you are passing your classes and that you are progressing toward your degree at a good pace to merit financial aid.
The Financial Aid Office checks students’ progress each semester and warns students when they are close to failing or failing the SAP standards.
Learn more about Satisfactory Academic Progress.
Returning Funds/R2T4
If you lose eligibility for financial aid or drop courses that have already been paid for by financial aid funds, you may be required to return a portion or all of those funds. Title IV funds are awarded to a student with the expectation that he/she will attend school for the entire enrollment period for which the aid is awarded.
When is R2T4 required? When the student fails to receive a passing grade for at least one course in the semester or withdraws (Officially or Unofficially) from all his/her courses in the semester, he/she may no longer be eligible for the full amount of Title IV funds originally scheduled to receive
Official Withdrawal: Student officially drops all courses with DR or WI grades.
Unofficial Withdrawal: Student stops attending course.
When a student receives a non-passing grade (F, F0, IN, DR, W, WA, WI), the Financial Aid Office has a responsibility to determine whether the grade was “unearned” meaning the student failed to complete the course OR the non-passing grade was “earned” meaning you attended, did the work, but the quality of the work merited a non-passing grade. Learn more about policies for dropped classes or withdrawals.
How much aid will I return? The amount of aid to be returned is based on formulas established by the U.S. Department of Education. The calculation is based on the percentage of days attended during the term in which the student withdrew. The amount of aid earned is determined on a pro-rata basis proportionate to the student’s attendance. That is, if a student completed 30% of the term in which he/she withdrew, the student has earned 30% of the federal aid received.
Once the student has completed 60% of the term, he/she is considered to have earned 100% of the aid.
Failure to repay funds due to a federal program may affect future eligibility for financial aid at FIU or any other institution you may attend after leaving FIU.
Students granted a Student Petition to remove courses or drop with DR grade, may also be subject to R2T4.
What aid is affected? Students who are subject to Return to Title IV Funds will be notified via Panther Mail when financial aid adjustments are made. Title IV funds include the following financial aid programs:
Pell Grant
SEOG
TEACH Grant
Subsidized and Unsubsidized Federal Direct Loans
Federal PLUS Loans
For Bright Futures, see Bright Futures policy to learn about the scholarship’s return of funds procedures.