The Pell Grant is the most popular federal education grant, and it is available to undergraduate students who demonstrate what the Department of Education considers to be an “exceptional financial need”. It is a grant, and can therefore provide you with money that never has to be paid back under most normal circumstances.
Here are some quick facts about the Pell Grant:
- Named the “Pell” Grant in 1980 after Senator Claiborne Pell
- Eligibility is based on need—must have an EFC below 5,273 to qualify
- Maximum award amount is currently set at 5,550 dollars per academic year
- Apply via the FAFSA
- Can get a Pell Grant for each year that you are enrolled as an undergraduate student—disbursed annually
- Cannot receive Pell Grant aid from more than one school at a time
Establishing Your Pell Grant Eligibility
To become eligible for the Pell Grant you must exhibit an “exceptional” financial need according to the Department of Education. This is primarily evaluated via your EFC metric, with a maximum cutoff threshold set at 5,273.
This means that you must have an EFC below this figure in order to qualify for the Pell Grant, and the closer your EFC is to zero, the better your chances are at receiving the full award amount.
You can determine your EFC once you have completed the FAFSA, as it will be provided to you via the Student Aid Report that is generated upon completion of your application.
Having the appropriate EFC isn’t the only thing that you must have in place to gain a positive eligibility status for the Pell Grant, as you must also satisfy the litany of federal student aid requirements that are required for most forms of federal aid.
There are two other Pell Grant specific requirements that also must be satisfied in accordance with the primary list of federal student aid requirements:
- You must be enrolled in an undergraduate degree program, and you must not already have either a bachelor’s, or graduate degree. You may still be able to get a Pell Grant if you are participating in a postbaccalaureate teacher certificate program, or another professional degree program that may lead to licensure.
- You will not qualify for the Pell Grant if you are incarcerated in a federal, or state penal institution.
Once you have satisfied these two Pell Grant specific requirements in accordance with the list of federal student aid requirements, your Pell Grant eligibility will then be up to your ability to demonstrate the appropriate financial need. This again is going to be dependent on your EFC, which should be below 5,273 in order to qualify for the Pell Grant.
Pell Grant Amount and Disbursement
Once you have gained a positive Pell Grant eligibility status, the actual amount of money you are able to receive will be dependent on your level of need, in accordance with various other factors such as cost of attendance, and enrollment status.
- The lower your EFC is to zero, the better, with most students having EFC values of zero getting approved for the full amount.
The Pell Grant amount you are able to receive will be fractionally prorated with regard to your enrollment status. This essentially means that your grant amount will be reduced in proportion to the number of credits that you are taking once you fall below what is considered to be a “full-time” enrollment status.
So if you are able to receive the full award amount of 5,550 dollars, and you fall into “half-time” status, your grant amount will be reduced by fifty percent, to 2,775 dollars.
Pell Grant money is typically allocated at the beginning of each semester, and you can expect your school to first credit your student account in order to pay any remaining balances at the start of a school year before you will be able to access the award money directly.
Final Statements on the Pell Grant
The Pell Grant is one of the best financial aid instruments around, and it is highly recommended that you go ahead and complete a FAFSA in order to determine your eligibility, as this is money that never has to be paid back—unlike most student loans.
The Pell Grant can be used in conjunction with all of the major forms of financial aid—full scholarships such as the Presidential Scholarship excluded, and should therefore be warmly welcomed by any student who has a high need for financial aid..
Realistically most students that become eligible for the Pell Grant only receive about half of the full award amount, but when all is said and done this can still be a fairly large sum of money to put towards the cost of your higher education. Make sure to complete your FAFSA on an annual basis, as this will guarantee that you will be considered for a Pell Grant during each year that you are completing an undergraduate course of study.
