When a male student failed to register with Selective Service by his 26th birthday, and does not satisfy any of the criteria for a waiver of the registration requirement, he is ineligible for all Federal student aid programs and many state student aid programs. The financial aid administrator may permit the student to receive Federal student aid if the student demonstrates by a preponderance of evidence, to the satisfaction of the financial aid administrator, that his failure to register was not knowing and willful. It is up to the financial aid administrator to make this determination, and there is no appeal beyond the financial aid administrator.

Additional information can be found in the Selective Service section of FinAid. The regulations in 34 CFR 668.37 are also relevant. In particular, the regulations giving the school the authority to make a determination whether the failure to register was knowing and willful can be found in 34 CFR 668.37(d) and 34 CFR 668.37(e), excerpted below.

34 CFR 668.37(d) and 34 CFR 668.37(e)

4. An institution may determine that a student, who was required to, but did not register with the Selective Service, is not ineligible to receive title IV, HEA assistance for that reason, if the student can demonstrate by submitting clear and unambiguous evidence to the institution that --
   1. He was unable to present himself for registration for reasons beyond his control such as hospitalization, incarceration, or institutionalization; or
   2. He is over 26 and when he was between 18 and 26 and required to register --
      1. He did not knowingly and willfully fail to register with the Selective Service; or
      2. He served as a member of one of the U.S. Armed Forces on active duty and received a DD Form 214, "Certificate of Release or Discharge from Active Duty," showing military service with other than the reserve forces and National Guard.

5. For purposes of paragraph (d)(2)(i) of this section, an institution may consider that a student did not knowingly and willfully fail to register with the Selective Service only if --
   1. The student submits to the institution an advisory opinion from the Selective Service System that does not dispute the student's claim that he did not knowingly and willfully fail to register; and
   2. The institution does not have uncontroverted evidence that the student knowingly and willfully failed to register.