Selective Service Registration

Most males from ages 18 through 25 (including permanent residents, other eligible noncitizens, and illegal immigrants) are required to register with the Selective Service System. Anyone required to register must have done so in order to receive financial aid. You are exempt from this requirement if you are:

• female
• male currently in the armed services and on active duty (this exception does not apply to members of the Reserves and National Guard who are not on active duty)
• male who is not yet 18 at the time they complete their FAFSA (an update is not required during the year, even if the student turns 18 after completing the application)
• male born before 1960
• citizen of Federated States of Micronesia, the Republic of the Marshall Islands, or the Republic of Palau

A financial aid counselor determines whether the student’s reason qualifies for exempt status, thereby making him eligible to receive aid.

Waiving Registration Requirement

There are certain less common situations in which the registration requirement is waived. Students who are not required to have already registered prior to meeting one of these criteria and who meet one of the criteria for the entire time they are 18 through 25 qualify for the waiver if they are

• unable to register due to being hospitalized, incarcerated, or institutionalized;
• enrolled in any officer procurement program at The Citadel, North Georgia College, Norwich University, or Virginia Military Institute;
• commissioned Public Health Service officers on active duty or members of the Reserve of the Public Health Service; or
• commissioned officers of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

Necessary Documentation

The Office of Financial Aid must document your status (i.e., whether registered, exempt, or can be waived). If selective service status cannot be clearly verified, you will be required to contact Selective Service to either confirm registration or obtain a Status Information Letter and provide that documentation to the financial aid office.

If your registration is confirmed, you will then be allowed to receive financial aid funds. Otherwise, you will remain ineligible until the situation is reconciled. When resolved, you will receive written confirmation from Selective Service documenting registration, exemption, or waived status.

Students who were required to register but failed to do so must submit a written explanation (with any supporting documentation) of the reason for not registering to the OFA. You must also include a Status Information Letter obtained from Selective Service with this explanation. The decision of the Office of Financial Aid is final and cannot be appealed.