Overview
Texas students are required to submit a financial aid application or exception to meet graduation requirements. In accordance with Texas Education Code (TEC), §28.0256, beginning with students enrolled in 12th grade during the 2021-2022 school year, each student must do one of the following in order to graduate:
- Complete and submit a Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA);
- Complete and submit a Texas Application for State Financial Aid (TASFA); or
- Submit a signed opt-out form.
TEA Financial Aid Requirement Link
To enter financial aid application records for individual students, use the Activities and Awards page.
To mass enter data, use Mass Update Student Related Data.
The financial aid application requirement should be printed on student transcripts and is reported in TSDS PEIMS and Texas Records Exchange (TREx) System. See the State Reporting section below for additional details.
Security ↑
Table | Permission | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Activities and Awards (ACT) | Read | View Activities and Awards page. |
| Insert | Add new ACT records | |
| Update | Update ACT records | |
| Delete | Delete ACT records | |
| Mass Update | Mass add ACT records using Mass Add Student Related Data or Import Data to Aeries |
Configurations ↑
The following Activities and Awards fields are automatically populated, so further configuration should not be necessary:
- Code (ACT.CD) = G04 Financial Aid Application
- Reason (ACT. RS) = FA1- Financial application form completed or FA2-Exclusion submitted/Opt-Out
Tables ↑
| Table | Field | |
| Activities and Awards (ACT) | Type (TY) | Other Graduation Requirements |
| Code (CD) | G04 Financial Aid Application | |
| Reason (RS) | Required. FA1 - Financial application form completed OR FA2 - Exception submitted/Opt-Out |
Steps ↑
Each student must have 1 record in Activities and Awards for financial aid application with a reason of either completed or exception submitted. You can mass add these records for multiple students at once, or you can add records for students individually.
Add Records for Multiple Students (Same Reason)
If all students either completed a financial aid application or all have an exception submitted use the following steps. Otherwise, follow steps described in the next section.
First, open a spreadsheet that contains a list of Student IDs for students who completed a financial aid application.
Navigate to Functions > Mass Add Student Related Data
NOTE: Be very careful as this will insert records in ACT even if one already exists. Should only have one financial aid application record per student.
Run the this query to SKIP students who already have this record: SKIP STU ACT IF ACT.CD = "G04"
or this query to see which students have more than 1 record:
TOTAL STU ACT STU.SC STU.ID STU.LN BY STU.SC STU.ID STU.LN IF ACT.CD = "G04"
Query results open on a new page. Sort or Filter as needed.
To Sort: Double-click on Total Rcds column twice to change sort order to descending.
To Filter: Click FILTER icon next to Total Rcds column. Choose 'is not equal to 1' and Click Filter.
Enter Financial Aid Application Records:
- Click Create New.
- For Target Table, select ACT.
- Date: Defaults to current date. Make sure date is > 08/01/YYYY and < 06/30/YYYY of the students graduation year.
- Type: Select Other Graduation Requirements.
- Code: Select Financial Aid Application (G04).
- Reason: Select FA1- Financial application form completed OR FA2 - Exclusion submitted/Opt-Out
- From the spreadsheet, select and copy the list of student IDs, and then paste the student IDs in the Student Search box. You can also search for students by counselor, class, or grade instead of by student.
- Click Load Students.
- Under Search Results (left), click All to select all students, or select individual students.
Click the right arrow to move those students to the Selected Students (right) box.
Click Mass Add Records.
Add Record for Individual Students
To add data for an individual student, use the following steps.
Navigate to Student Data > Other > Activities and Awards
Enter Financial Aid Application Record:
- Click Add New Record.
- Date: Defaults to todays date. Make sure date is > 08/01/YYYY and < 06/30/YYYY of the students graduation year.
- Type: Other Graduation Requirements
- Code: Financial Aid Application (G04)
- Reason: (Required) Select FA1- Financial application form completed OR FA2 - Exclusion submitted
- Click the Save icon.
Mass Update Graduation Status ↑
The Mass Update Graduation Status page allows users to assess the graduation status for 12th grade students and then mass update the Graduation Status. See Mass Update Graduation Status Documentation.
State Reporting ↑
Districts are required to report the financial aid application graduation requirement in TSDS PEIMS for each student. A new data element and code table will be added to TSDS PEIMS for the graduate record beginning with the 2022-2023 school year.
PEIMS
Financial Aid Application indicator is reported in the Fall PEIMS Submissions in the StudentGraduationProgramExtension.
Beginning with the 2022-23 school year submission 1 for the 2021-22 high school graduates, districts and charter schools will be required to report the Financial Aid Application Indicator (E1724) in TSDS PEIMS.
E1724 FINANCIAL-AID-APPLICATION-CODE. Indicates the manner in which the student completed the graduation requirement of either completing a financial aid application (FAFSA or TAFSA) or submitting an exception. (ACT.RS)
TREx
Financial aid application requirements are reported in TREx in the following elements:
- TE139 FINANCIAL-AID-APPLICATION-CODE: indicates the manner in which the student completed the graduation requirement of either submitting a financial aid application (FAFSA or TASFA) or submitting an exception. (ACT.RS)
- TE140 FINANCIAL-AID-APPLICATIONREQUIREMENT-MET-DATE: indicates the month and year that the student completed a financial aid application (FAFSA or TASFA) or submitted an exception. (ACT.DT)
- TC46 FINANCIAL-AID-APPLICATION-CODE
Transcripts
Financial aid application graduation requirement can be printed with transcripts by selecting them on Transcript Definition > TTP - Things to Print.
NOTE: MUST INCLUDE BOTH reasons in subtest/part to print both on transcript.
Student Profile
Financial aid application is reflected on the Student Data > Profile page under Recognitions.
Student Graduation Status
Financial aid application is listed on the Graduation Status page under Recognitions. 
Queries ↑
- How the student met the financial aid application requirement is recorded in Activities & Awards Reason field. Students missing a financial aid application reason in Activities & Awards can be found by running this query:
LIST STU ACT STU.SC STU.ID STU.NM ACT.CD? ACT.RS ACT.RS? IF ACT.CD = "G04" AND ACT.RS = ""
Click Change and enter Reason for each record.
- Queries to find seniors missing a financial aid application record in Activities and Awards:
KEEP STU IF GR = 12
SKIP STU ACT IF ACT.CD = "G04"
LIST STU SC ID NM