If you've been wondering how you'll come up with the cash to cover a year of studies in the Middle East, it should help you to know that federal student aid can usually be used to pay for study abroad, as long as the program you attend has been approved for credit by your home school. This may apply to your state aid programs as well, since they often abide by the same rules and regulations as federal aid programs.

Here are some things to know about using state or federal aid for your study abroad:

1. To use federal grants, work-study, or loans to pay for study abroad, you must be enrolled at least half-time (full-time in some cases) in a degree program. However, using your work-study award abroad may be difficult due to restrictions on where you can work and how your time must be reported.

2. Your home school must pre-approve earning credits abroad through your chosen program. As long as you have your school's go-ahead, they can award you federal aid even if your program is sponsored by another U.S. school or by a foreign institution.

3. It's easiest to use federal or state aid if you go on a study-abroad program run by your school. Everything is already academically approved, there is already a process in place for maintaining your enrollment while you're abroad, and earning and transferring credits will be much easier.

4. If the program you really want is run by a different U.S. school or if you wish to enroll directly in a foreign school's program, you can still arrange to use your federal or state aid, as long as your home school has a mechanism for examining and approving the courses you will take.

5. Once your program is approved by your home school, it is necessary to have a written agreement between your school and the study-abroad program. Ask your home school study-abroad office or your financial aid office about this agreement.

6. You may need to submit a budget for your study-abroad program to ensure that you're not awarded too much, even though federal law allows aid to cover all "reasonable" costs of study abroad, including round-trip transportation, tuition and fees for the program, living costs, passport and visa fees, health insurance, etc.

7. If your study-abroad program costs more than what you normally pay, ask your financial aid office to consider the higher costs and give you more aid. If studying abroad costs less, you should expect the normal aid award to be reduced.

8. If you have never applied for a federal loan, federal law requires that you attend school for at least 30 days (for most schools) before you can get your loan money. You are also required to have special counseling about borrowing money for college; your first loan cannot be disbursed to you until you have received this counseling.

9. To receive federal or state aid for study abroad, you may have to gather information about the cost of your program and ensure that all forms, documents, and other materials are filled out and turned in so you can get your aid award. You may need to arrange for someone you trust to "watch over" your aid, perhaps pick up refund checks, and contact your financial aid officer if problems arise. It's pretty hard to sort out problems at home if you're in the Outback somewhere.

10. If you think you might be eligible for state or federal aid, talk to your study-abroad adviser and your financial aid officer. Find out what policies exist for using aid to study abroad, and be sure you follow instructions so you won't be denied aid at the last minute or have difficulties getting the money that has been awarded.