Federal Supplemental Educational Opportunity Grants (FSEOG): government grants administered through each school's financial aid office

Federal Family Education Loan Program (FFELP): a program in which private lenders, with the backing of the federal government, offer PLUS or consolidated loans to students

Forbearance: a specified amount of time in which a loan does not need to be paid back; usually used by students who don't qualify for deferment but are unable to make loan payments

Guaranteed Student Loan: more commonly known as the Stafford Loan

Income Contingent: a loan repayment schedule based on the borrower's ability to pay

Loan Dismissal: also known as cancellation or forgiveness; a situation in which a loan no longer needs to be paid back; almost always based on very specific and limited circumstances

Pell Grant: need-based type of federal financial aid that does not need to be paid back; only available to undergraduate students

Pell Grant Index (PGI) Number: an index number appearing on your Student Aid Report (SAR) that determines the amount of Pell Grant money to be included in your financial aid package; the number is the result of a series of calculations based on your SAR

Perkins Loan: a low-interest, need-based loan given by schools; payback begins nine months after a student leaves school

Parents' Loans for Undergraduate Students (PLUS) Program: given by the same financial institutions that give Stafford Loans

Promissory Note: a legal note that a student must sign when awarded a loan; stipulates conditions and repayment terms

Stafford Loan: a loan given by banks, credit unions, loan associations, and schools; also sometimes called a Guaranteed Student Loan, or GSL

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