Am I eligible for Financial aid if I'm not a Resident?

Does a public university have to give a student financial aid if they're eligible?

• i live on the border of 2 states. i'm considered a resident of Virginia, but i go to a college in Tennessee. this college offers in-state benefits to students from my county since we're only about 20 minutes away. well my parents don't make very much and the fasfa says i'm eligible to go to school for free. the other 4 colleges i applied to granted me a full ride. before i knew this, i committed to this school and now that classes have started they're not giving me any financial aid. it's 13,000 a year and it's too late to go to one of the other schools i got f.a. from. they told me they can't give me any aid because i'm "not a tennessee resident" even though they offer in-state benefits to my county. are they legally allowed to do this?

• Answer:

  First off, the FAFSA does not say anything EVER about someone going to college for free. The FAFSA will give you an EFC number, but even the lowest EFC numbers don't guarantee a free ride. The money you get from fafsa is limited. It sounds like this is what happened. Since the out of state school did not give you the in state rates the amount of federal financial aid they DID give you (Grants, loans, work study) was not enough to cover all your costs as it was for the in state schools. Be aware Federal aid is FEDERAL... meaning it can go to ANY college or university in the state that is approved. You can get federal aid to go to an out of state school no problem... but your costs will often exceed your aid amounts. This is most likely what happened to you. It is also true they are telling you you don't qualify for any TENNESSEE state aid. Be aware state aid is different (and usually not as much) as the federal aid you might get. Yes, this is all perfectly legal. One more option that might be happening to you. It could be that this school does not have the privilege to accept federal student aid like grants and loans. I'm not sure which is true in your case but you do have options. Find a better school. One that will grant you the most aid that is not loans so you have to borrow and graduate with as little debt as possible. Good luck.