Schools are very strict regarding issuing fin aid. A few things come to mind reading your question. Be very cautious about the on-line offer. Sometimes I think those things are AUTOMATED and unless you have the check in hand, don’t assume anything.

1. Satisfactory academic progress – don’t forget you must maintain a good GPA to get fin aid. Although you rec’d an A in the summer be aware they are prob looking at all your grades, it doesn’t sound like an issue here, just a reminder. 🙂

2. Completion rate – schools require you to complete most of the classes you enroll in. If you didn’t recive fin aid in the fall of ’06 “due to a W” then it’s a pretty safe bet to say the one you earned in the spring ’07 put the nail in the coffin. Likely you will be required to complete (yet another-F’07) semester without fin aid. Stop dropping classes, you’ll earn your degree faster!! 🙂

3. Number of ours earned – you are only eligible to receive fin aid for a certain number of attempted hours. I’m not sure how many hours you have, but depending on your school (2-yr vs. 4-yr) your fin aid could be cut off. Somewhere around 95 at a jr college and 180 at a 4-year. (I mention this because you said you had a degree already and I don’t want you to work so hard to fix your completion rate only to find out you have too many hours.)

4. Also one more thing, you said you had a degree already, but not which kind. Just FYI: once you have your bachelor’s degree you are not eligible for PELL anymore.

The good news is that most schools have an appeals process for all the rules except the last one and it sounds like yours is no exception. I hope I’m wrong about your completion rate. Visit the fin aid office often and ask lots of questions!! If you get free money, it’s worth it! Good luck.