Skip to main content

Federal Pell Grant

Federal Pell Grant:  The maximum award for 2012-2013 is $5,550.

A Federal Pell Grant, unlike a loan, does not have to be repaid. Federal Pell Grants usually are awarded only to undergraduate students who have not earned a bachelor's or a professional degree. (In some cases, however, a student enrolled in a postbaccalaureate teacher certification program might receive a Federal Pell Grant.) You are not eligible to receive a Federal Pell Grant if you are incarcerated in a federal or state penal institution or are subject to an involuntary civil commitment upon completion of a period of incarceration for a forcible or nonforcible sexual offense.

How much money can I get?

Amounts can change yearly. The maximum Federal Pell Grant award is $5,550 for the 2012–13 award year (July 1, 2012 to June 30, 2013). The amount you get, though, will depend on

  • your financial need,
  • your cost of attendance,
  • your status as a full-time or part-time student, and
  • your plans to attend school for a full academic year or less. 

You may not receive Federal Pell Grant funds from more than one school at a time.

Effective on July 1, 2012, you can receive the Federal Pell Grant for no more than 12 semesters or the equivalent. You’ll receive a notice if you’re getting close to your limit. If you have any questions, contact your financial aid office.

If you’re eligible for a Federal Pell Grant, you’ll receive the full amount you qualify for—each school participating in the program receives enough funds each year from the U.S. Department of Education to pay the Federal Pell Grant amounts for all its eligible students. The amount of any other student aid for which you might qualify does not affect the amount of your Federal Pell Grant.

How is my Federal Pell Grant Lifetime Eligibility Used calculated?

Scheduled award: The maximum amount of Federal Pell Grant funding you can receive is calculated for an award year. An award year is a period from July 1 of one calendar year to June 30 of the next calendar year.

Your scheduled award

  • is partially determined by using your Expected Family Contribution (EFC) that is calculated from the information you (and your family) provided when you filed your Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSASM);
  • is the maximum amount you would be able to receive for the award year if you were enrolled full-time for the full school year; and
  • represents 100% of your Pell Grant eligibility for that award year.

Percent used: To determine how much of the maximum six years (600%) of Pell Grant you have used each year, the U.S. Department of Education (ED) compares the actual amount you received for the award year with your scheduled award amount for that award year. Of course, if you receive the full amount of your scheduled award, you will have used 100%. It’s possible that you might not receive your entire scheduled award for an award year. There are a number of reasons for this, the most common of which are that you are not enrolled for the full year or that you are not enrolled full-time, or both.

If you did not receive the full amount of your scheduled award, we calculate the percentage of the scheduled award that you did receive. For example, if your scheduled award for an award year is $5,000, but because you were enrolled for only one semester you received only $2,500, you would have received 50% of the scheduled award for that award year. Or if you received only $3,750 for the award year because you were enrolled three-quarter-time and not full-time, you would have received 75% for that year.

Lifetime Eligibility Used (LEU): ED keeps track of your LEU by adding together the percentages of your Pell Grant scheduled awards that you received for each award year. The table below shows examples of the LEUs of three students who received differing amounts of their scheduled awards over a four-year period.

 

How can I see my Lifetime Eligibility Used (LEU) percentage?

You can log on to National Student Loan Data System (NSLDS®) using your Federal Student Aid PIN and view your LEU. The LEU will be found on the Financial Aid Review page.

 

Infomration from http://studentaid.ed.gov/PORTALSWebApp/students/english/PellLimit.jsp.