17-21. Enrollment status. A financial aid administrator (FAA) will look at your expected enrollment status as a factor in determining your financial aid package. If you change your enrollment status (such as from full time to half time, your FAA will adjust your award to reflect this change, depending on the timing of the change, how much aid is available, etc.

You should enter your expected enrollment status for the 2003-04 school year. If applying to more than one school, you should provide the enrollment status and school terms that apply to the school you are most likely to attend. If unsure of your enrollment status, you should select "full time."

For undergraduates, "full time" generally means taking at least 12 credit hours in a term or 24 clock hours per week. "Three-quarter time" generally means taking at least 9 credit hours in a term or 18 clock hours per week. "Half time" generally means taking at least 6 credit hours in a term or 12 clock hours per week.

22-23. Father's/mother's highest school level. These questions do not affect your eligibility for federal student aid. Some state and institutional programs use the information provided here to offer aid to first-generation college students.

Enter the highest grade level completed by your father and mother. "father" and "mother" in these questions mean your birth parents or adoptive parents, but not stepparents or foster parents. Note that this definition of parents is unique to these two questions. All other questions use the definition given on page 7 of the paper FAFSA and elsewhere on this site, see questions 59-84.

24. State of legal residence. The Department will disclose your FAFSA information to state agencies in your state of legal residence, to each school listed on the FAFSA, and to state agencies in the state in which each school is located. State and institutional programs may use the information provided on the FAFSA to determine your eligibility for state and institutional aid.

Your state of legal residence is also used in the EFC calculation to determine the appropriate allowance for state and other taxes paid by that state's residents.

Your residence is your true, fixed, and permanent home. If you are a dependent student, the state of legal residence is usually the state in which your parents live. If you moved into a state for the sole purpose of attending a college, do not count that state as your legal residence. Use the State Abbreviations list to provide the abbreviation for your state.

25. Legal resident before 1998. States have varying criteria for determining whether you are a resident for purposes of state financial aid. However, if you established a true, fixed, and permanent home in any state more than four years ago, you will meet its criteria. Select "Yes" if you became a resident of your state before January 1, 1998 or "No" if you became a resident of your state on or after January 1, 1998.

26. Date of legal residence. Your state will use this information to determine whether you meet its specific residency criteria for state aid. If you answered "No" to the question asking if you became a legal resident of your state before January 1, 1998, provide the month and year you became a legal resident of your state.

27. Are you male? To receive federal student financial aid, male students who are at least 18 years old and born after December 31, 1959 must be registered with Selective Service. Indicate whether you are male.

28. Selective Service registration. If you are male, 18 through 25 years of age, and have not registered with Selective Service, you can enter "Yes" and Selective Service will register you. You can also register on the web at www.sss.gov

If you believe that you are not required to register, call the Selective Service office at 847-688-6888 for information regarding exemptions. Female students should leave Question 28 blank.