FinAid for CHSPE student?

Sally_Rubenstone
Fri, 03 Oct 2008 12:59:55 +0000

Today I received an “Ask the Dean” question from a student who’d taken and passed The California High School Proficiency Examination (CHSPE). She wanted to know if that would make her eligible for Federal Financial Aid. Since “The Dean” tends to deal more often with students who seem to have taken 47 AP courses by the end of 11th grade ;), rather than those who made it through via an exam, the question prompted a phone call to the FAFSA folks. The answer I got was, “It depends.” I was told that my student needs to contact each college on her list individually to see which ones would accept the CHSPE in lieu of a GED (which IS acceptable for govenment aid). Supposedly, if the college accepts the CHSPE then the Feds say that the student is aid eligible.

Have any of you had experience applying for–and receiving–goverment aid based on CHSPE results and not on an actual high school diploma or GED?

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