Pell Grant Information

Most students who hear about the Pell Grant immediately want to know about their Pell Grant eligibility, and whether or not they are able to receive any aid by way of this federal grant. If you are a college student and find yourself in a similar category then it is probably a smart move to first learn about the things that can make you eligible for the Pell Grant before doing anything else, as doing so will allow you the chance to make the adjustments to your financial aid plan going forward. While it may be difficult to alter the Pell Grant information you submit when you fill out your FAFSA to better your chances at receiving the Pell Grant, certain things can be done to improve your likelihood of becoming eligible, and it is always a good thing to know your situation before the fact, than after.

Your Pell Grant eligibility is ultimately dependent on your financial need for such aid, and your ability to satisfy the various Pell Grant requirements that act as prerequisites in determining your eligibility for the award. The Pell Grant was designed to even the playing field so-to-speak for students that come from lower income families who want to attend postsecondary institutions. Financial need therefore must be established before you’ll be able to get approved for this award, and the way the Department of Education goes about determining this is by way of your EFC, or expected family contribution. Your income, as well as your families’ income is taken into consideration among a number of other factors as part of a formula that eventually calculates your EFC.

Your income levels are the most crucial factors in this EFC formula, and the lower they are, the better. Other factors that are included in this EFC formula are the size of your family, the number of family members who are attending postsecondary institutions, and the age of your parents. Once all of this Pell Grant information has been provided by way of your FAFSA, your EFC will be calculated and will be made available for review almost immediately after the official submission of your FAFSA. The cutoff threshold that will make you eligible for the Pell Grant is set at 4,617 dollars, and anything higher than that will make you ineligible for the grant. To give you an idea of the kind of income levels you need to get your EFC below this mark, the majority of Pell Grants are awarded to students who come from families that make less than 30,000 dollars per year. Your likelihood of receiving the grant then goes down as your family’s income approaches 60,000 dollars per year, and hardly any students receive grants who have families that make more than 60,000 dollars per year, although it is not impossible.

Once your need is established by way of your EFC, it is then going to be up to your ability to satisfy the litany of Pell Grant requirements that can provide the grounds for a quick ineligibility status. You first must be a U.S. citizen, U.S. national, or eligible non-citizen. You must have a valid social security number, and be planning to enroll at one of the 5,400 participating institutions from across the nation. You should be working towards your first bachelor’s degree, and the vast majority of graduate programs are not eligible. You should be making satisfactory academic progress in a degree-oriented program as defined by your school of attendance, and if you are a male ages 18-25 you should be registered with the Selective Service. You may run into difficulty becoming eligible if you have defaulted on any sort of federal aid in the past, and it is crucial that you don’t have an outstanding Pell overpayment. Once you have satisfied all of these requirements and have submitted all of your Pell Grant information in an appropriate manner during the filling out of your FAFSA you should become eligible for the Pell as long as your EFC is below the cutoff threshold.