Academic Calendars, Cost of Attendance, and Packaging | 2025-2026 Federal Student Aid Handbook

This volume of the Federal Student Aid (FSA) Handbook discusses the academic calendar, payment period, and disbursement requirements for awarding aid under the Title IV student financial aid programs, determining a student’s cost of attendance, and packaging Title IV aid.

Throughout this volume of the Handbook, the words "we," "our," and "us" refer to the United States Department of Education (the Department). The word "you" refers to the primary audience of the Handbook, school financial aid administrators. In other volumes of the Handbook we use "institution," "school," and "college" interchangeably, unless a more specific meaning is provided. In this volume we consistently use the term "school." “HEA” refers to the Higher Education Act of 1965, as amended. Title IV refers to the student financial aid programs authorized under Title IV of the HEA.

We appreciate any comments that you have on this volume as well as the other volumes of the FSA Handbook. We revise the text based on questions and feedback from the financial aid community, so please reach out to us about how to improve the Handbook through the “Contact Customer Support” feature in our Partner Connect’s Help Center clicking on “FSA Handbook” under the Topic section.

There are no major changes in Volume 3 for 2025-2026. However, we have made minor additions and clarifications to existing guidance in a few areas, as noted below.

In Appendix B, we have added guidance on determining enrollment intensity for Pell Grant recipients who are enrolled in subscription-based programs.

We have revised the discussion of “Allowable Costs” to clarify that for Pell Grant recipients with an enrollment intensity below 50%, the cost of attendance (COA) is still based on the full-year costs for a full-time student. In this same section, we have also removed text noting that the FAFSA Simplification Act made certain changes to COA components. These changes are no longer new and were previously incorporated into the 2023-2024 FSA Handbook.
Under “Tuition and Fees,” we have added health insurance premiums that are charged to all students as an additional example of a cost that may be included in this COA component.
We have revised the text under “Costs of Obtaining a License, Certification, or First Professional Credential” to clarify that the guidance in this section pertains to credentials that are required for a student to practice or participate in the occupation the program is preparing the student to enter, and have added bar exam fees as an example of one of the types of costs that may be included in this COA component.
Under “Periods of Non-Attendance,” we have added language to clarify that a period of non-attendance is a period during which the student is not enrolled and is not otherwise engaged in any activity that is a requirement of the student’s program of study.

Under “Packaging Aid for Certain Dependents of Deceased Servicemembers or Public Safety Officers (Pell Grant Special Rule),” we have removed the note explaining that the Pell Grant Special Rule replaced the Iraq and Afghanistan Service Grant (IASG) and Children of Fallen Heroes (CFH) provisions. This change is no longer new for 2025-2026.