Do You Have Enough Financial Aid?
Federal regulations state the amount of financial aid you receive cannot exceed your eligibility for financial aid. In other words, you can't receive more aid than you need.
Some students may receive the full amount of their financial aid eligibility. In many cases, however, students do not receive their full eligibility amount. If that happens, the student has an unmet need. (Eligibility for financial aid, minus actual awarded financial aid, equals unmet need.)
Types of financial aid example:
In the following example the student has an unmet need of $5,000 after financial aid has been awarded.
| Federal Pell Grant | $650 |
| Maine State Grant | $1,000 |
| College Grants | $1,900 |
| Work Study | $1,200 |
| College Loans | $1,700 |
| Outside Aid | $900 |
| Financial Aid (totals from above items) | $7,350 |
| Total Family Resources | $1,970 |
| + Financial Aid | $7,350 |
| = Total Available Resources | $9,320 |
| College Budget | $14,320 |
| - Total Available Resources | $9,320 |
| = Unmet Need | $5,000 |