Loyola University Chicago

Achieving College Excellence

Student Academic Services

Eligibility

The Achieving College Excellence program offers a variety of support services and programs aimed at supporting you as you excel through your college experience.

  • Are you a first-generation college student (your parent[s] did not earn a bachelor's degree)?
  • Are you a student with high financial need?
  • Are you a student with a documented disability?

If you answered "yes" to any of the above questions, the ACE program may be for you.  The information below gives the specific details about eligibility requirements and our recruitment timelines.

Please note that all ACE participants must be a U.S. citizen or permanent resident and already enrolled or accepted for the upcoming semester at Loyola University Chicago.


The ACE program invites applications for the new first-year cohort on or shortly after the deposit deadline set by the university's admissions department - typically May 1 or shortly after.  Students already enrolled at Loyola, can be considered and potentially accepted into ACE as late as the first semester of their junior year.  Because we are a grant-funded program, we are limited by the grant as to how many students we can serve, thus may not always have spaces open for new students.  Please inquire about this by sending an email to ace@luc.edu.

Specific Eligibility Details:

As a TRiO program, ACE complies with the federal regulations set by Congress and implemented by the U.S. Department of Education.  In order to be eligible for the ACE program, a student must:

1. Be a citizen of the United States of America or meet the residency requirements to be eligible to apply for the FAFSA (Free Application for Federal Student Aid).

2. Be enrolled at Loyola University Chicago or be accepted at Loyola University Chicago for the upcoming semester.

3. Have a need for academic support as determined by Loyola University Chicago in order to successfully complete a postsecondary degree program.

4. Be considered a:

 
 
 

High Financial Need Student

To be considered a high financial need student, a student’s individual or parent income as reported on the most recent federal tax return submitted, must meet a certain income level as determined by the U.S. Census Bureau.  To review these income levels, please click here.

First Generation College Student

To be considered a first-generation college student, the individual must be:

• (A) an individual both of whose parents did not complete a baccalaureate
degree; or
• (B) in the case of any individual who regularly resided with and received support
from only one parent, an individual whose only such parent did not complete a
baccalaureate degree. 

Student with Documented Disability

To qualify for ACE as a student with a disability, the individual must verbally disclose their disability status to ACE Staff, provide us with written documentation, or be documented through the Student Accessibility Center (SAC).  For more information, please see the SAC website.