What sort of thing(s) determines need for financial aid?

What sort of thing(s) determines need for financial aid?
I don't want to take out loans for going back to school. I am currently unemployed and actively seeking work and there is no guarentee that after I graduate I will be able to easily find employment...I don't want to take out a loan without being able to pay it back.

I want to get a transfer degree(General studies.) and then move on to a four year school and major in Education/French.(Eventually I want to be a French instructor.)
I am interested in grants, work study, tuition fee waivers, anything I don't have to pay back.
I'm not on Welfare(I can't qualify because I'm not pregnant and don't have kids.)but I would meet the requirements otherwise. I have absolutely no criminal record, I was born and raised here in the US. I'm not a veteran...I have panic attacks and have an inhaler given to me by a doctor, so even if I wanted to join the armed forces I can't.
When I go back to school, I do plan on taking at least 18-24 units/credit hours.(I live in Pennsylvania, so that's actually "normal.")
My question is, what determines my need for financial aid and other than loans, what is available to me?
Please no chat speak.
Please only answer if you have information regarding what determines financial need(you work in a financial aid office, you're a student who has had expereience with financial aid...etc.)
Please no links to the financial aid website...I know where to find it, thanks,
Please no scholarship websites...my GPA last I checked was about a 2.0(I got really sick one semester, so that caused me to have to drop what classes I could and the ones I couldn't, I had to take the "F's.") otherwise, I normally kept my grades around "B" or "A" level.

Yes, I have filled out the FAFSA/submitted it. I had to mail in a signature page, so that will take a few weeks. I have applied to the school, it's a community college. The only thing standing in my way of going are my finances.

Have you filled out a FAFSA or applied to any schools yet?

The way they determine your financial aid is complicated and multifaceted (and too varied to explain accurately here). You said no links, but have you tried the Fafsa4caster? Without submitting the FAFSA, that is the most accurate way to see what you are likely to get.

It includes age, income, dependency status, savings, marital status, etc. A *lot* like doing your taxes. The FAFSA folks have sample forms on their site.

To account for the other factors in your life that don't show up on the FAFSA, you can speak with the financial aid office at your school (or potential school). They can tweak things in your financial aid package if you have situations that warrant it.

Response to further info: Once you get your financial aid award letter (from the school), things will be even clearer. It will spell out the money you can get and where it will be coming from (feds, work-study, school, banks, etc). Take the free money (grants, scholarships) first, then the lowest-interest rate loans next. Try to avoid private loans -- they tend to be more expensive with fewer benefits.