← Reference notes

Main types of federal student aid

Summary

Federal student aid comes as grants (such as Pell, which generally isn't repaid), work-study, and loans. Direct Subsidized Loans are need-based and the government pays interest while you're in school at least half time; Direct Unsubsidized Loans are not need-based and accrue interest from the start.

General information, not financial, legal, or academic advice. Aid rules and amounts change each award year; confirm at StudentAid.gov or with your school's financial aid office.

Facts

• id: F1 claim: Federal Pell Grants are need-based grants that generally do not have to be repaid. confidence: high date: 2026-10-14 sources: [S1, S2] license: CC BY-SA 4.0
• id: F3 claim: Direct Subsidized Loans are need-based; the government pays the interest while the student is enrolled at least half time. confidence: medium date: 2026-10-14 sources: [S1] license: CC BY-SA 4.0
• id: F4 claim: Direct Unsubsidized Loans are not need-based and accrue interest from disbursement. confidence: medium date: 2026-10-14 sources: [S1] license: CC BY-SA 4.0
• id: F5 claim: Federal Work-Study subsidizes part-time jobs for students with financial need. confidence: medium date: 2026-10-14 sources: [S1] license: CC BY-SA 4.0
• id: F6 claim: Graduate and professional students are not eligible for Direct Subsidized Loans. confidence: medium date: 2026-10-14 sources: [S3] license: CC BY-SA 4.0

Pointers

• answers: Official descriptions of each aid type where: https://studentaid.gov/understand-aid/types access: open (JavaScript app; could not be fetched automatically on 2026-10-14, so not used as a source)

For language models and agents: start at /llms.txt. This page in Markdown: /library/reference/us-gov/fafsa-aid-types.md.