If you have been convicted of a criminal offense in Tennessee and are a college student or looking to attend college, you will want to understand how your criminal conviction might impact your ability to receive federal student aid. Even the cost of a community college education can be out of reach for some people without the receipt of financial aid. If this is your situation, you will need to carefully plan your education and financing options.
As explained by Federal Student Aid, some federal financial aid may be unavailable to you depending upon the situation. Non-federal aid may still be availalble making it important that you complete your Free Application for Federal Student Aid as this also funnels information used to make decisions and awards for non-federal aid.
If you are not in jail or prison or will be out of custody by the time you enter school, you may be able to receive Pell grants, work study and other federally backed grants. If you are in a state or federal jail or prison, however, some of these thing as well as federal student loans may be unavailable to you. Furthermore, if your criminal conviction involved a drug or sex crime charge, you may find yourself facing even stricter limitations on what federal financial aid you may receive.
If you would like to learn more about receiving federal financial aid for higher education with a criminal record, please feel free to visit the fresh start page of our Tennessee criminal defense website.
