Students at most colleges and universities are expected to maintain a minimum level of satisfactory academic progress in order to receive and retain need-based financial aid. Both institutional (the word commonly used to refer to a specific college or university) and federal academic rules are almost always referred to as an aid office's "Satisfactory Academic Progress" -- or SAP -- regulations.

Grade point average (GPA) and credit hour requirements vary depending on the type of aid a student receives. Generally speaking (again, for most - though not all - schools) merit scholarship recipients are expected to maintain an overall B average.

For need-based federal aid, federal regulations require a minimum 2.0 GPA and 12 credit hours per semester for full-time students. In addition, federal regulations mandate that federal financial aid may not be extended to any undergraduate student who takes longer than 150% of the published length of his or her program of study.

For the Federal Perkins Loan, Federal Supplemental Opportunity Grant (FSEOG), and Federal Work Study Program (FWSP), these awards require a student to achieve a minimum C (2.0) or better GPA, while also registering for and completing the number of credit hours for which a student's budget and award(s) were based. For example, full-time undergraduates must complete a minimum of 12 credits.

For the Federal Pell Grant, recipients must achieve a C (2.0) or better GPA in the number of credits on which their payment was based:

Full time: at least 12 credit hours per semester
Three-quarter time: 9-11 credit hours per semester
Half-time: 6-8 credit hours per semester
Less than half-time: 1-5 credit hours per semester

Check with your student's college for the specific institutional regulations as they apply to school-specific loans or grants. The same federal rules should be recognized and followed at any school that participates in any federal aid program.

For divorced or separated situations, the custodial parent’s financial information is required on the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA), while the noncustodial parent’s information is not required.

Who’s the “custodial” parent? For federal student aid purposes, it’s the parent with whom a student lived most during the previous 12 months – based on the FAFSA signature date, not the prior calendar year. The same policy applies even if each parent shared equal custody. In instances where a child spends half his or her time with each parent, and both parents shared half the support expenses, an aid administrator may be required to name the custodial parent.

Some college aid offices, often those of private schools, require information from a noncustodial parent, including applicable tax documents. Other private colleges may not, but they may still assess a noncustodial parent contribution.

Perhaps one of the most contentious financial aid issues: the responsibility of stepparents. Be prepared, for financial aid purposes, a stepparent is almost always considered financially responsible for a stepson or stepdaughter, even in cases of prenuptial agreements or court orders.