<prompt> Human: My brother got out of prison almost a year ago and has not been able to find a job after countless interviews. He is desperately trying to turn his life around and now wants to go back to school to go into an IT field. He was able to sign up for a few classes at a local community college and was awarded some financial aid; however, he just recently told me he got a letter from the financial aid department stating that his aid was suspended because he has been pursuing a degree for too long. Before prison, he went to school for a different degree program which was paid for out of pocket parents paid in full without him ever filling out a FAFSA in accounting. He said hes talked to multiple financial aid advisers who all told him they couldnt help him. I feel like Im missing something here, but isnt there any other way he can get funded for this? Can they deny him financial aid for being enrolled for too long when he never received financial aid in the first place? My parents cantwont help him at this point. Does he have any other options?EDIT: holy crap! Thanks for all of the responses, guys! okay, so I got a little more information. It appears I understood him incorrectly. He was approved the financial aid at first, but was suspended because of his completion ratio AND because of the time it took to pursue his degree. He is at least trying to get an AS right now. He told me hes been doing some research and saw that he can change to a certificate program and get those classes counted toward that AS degree. Once he switched to a certificate program, his only requirement was to bring that completion ratio up one of the classes he previously took twice and withdrew from the first time counted toward the program. Because that is the only class so far he has going toward that degree, his completion ratio is 50. He states that if he took one more class, he might be able to bring up that completion ratio and get aid again. Im not exactly sure how that works, but in the meantime, he just doesnt know how hes going to pay for that one class without being able to find a job.  <response>: My ex-husband had this happen, though he was never in prison. He went to a local community college for a long time, paid out of pocket. Applied for a healthcare program, got in, applied for financial aid, and was denied for the same reason, despite never receiving aid previously. He ended up having to file an appeals form every year or every semester to the FA office. Have your brother go back in and ask them for an appeals form and make them explain why hes been denied and show him the proof. 