Federal Pell Grants
The Federal Pell Grant is the most widely accessible and awarded grant program run by the federal government for students wishing to access school and college education programs. It is a program that offers “free grant money" to students in order to access higher education and never has to be paid back.
Who is the Pell Grant for?
The Pell Grant is a need-based grant program which is awarded to undergraduates and certain post-baccalaureates students based on their Expected Family Contributions (EFC), and is accessible by applicants who demonstrate a significant need for financial assistance in order to access postsecondary education.
Pell Grant Award Amounts
The federal government issues various different levels of awards to applicants each year depending in how much funding is allocated to the program. When students apply for a Pell Grant, the government will hand out awards based in the on a assessment criteria which calculates the cost of the students tuition, Expected Family Contributions and the applicants enrolment states and duration of the study program. The maximum award allocated to applicants is in the region of $4,750 but again this also depends on how much funding has been put into the program.
How Pell Grants can be Used
Pell grants can be used to fund the cost of tuition in over 5,400 participating postsecondary institutions across the United States, and are awarded to students who have not yet received a first bachelor’s degree or to students that are enrolled on programs that lead teacher certification or licensure. They are limited per student to one school at a time, which means that if students are studying at 2 or more education institutions, they can only use the Pell Grant for one of these schools.
Pell Grant Application Process
In order to apply for a Pell Grant students must complete and submit a Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA). This form requires students or their parents/guardians (if students are dependents) to provide honest and accurate details about all their personal finances and assets. The government requires this information in order to assess whether there is a need for financial assistance and use the information to determine the amount of award the applicant may be entitled to receive.It is very important that the form is completed with true and accurate information. If applicants provide false or misleading information then receive an award based on the details they submitted, they could receive severe penalties and fines if caught out at a later date.
How Pell Grant Awards are Paid
If a student is awarded a Pell Grant, the Funds will be issued directly from the participating education institution in which the student is enrolled with. The money will usually be deposited into the students school account, directly to the student by check or through a combination of both and is paid to the student once per semester, trimester or quarter in each academic year that the student is eligible to receive the grant.
Additional Pell Grant Information
What’s good about the Pell Grant Program is the fact that student that are eligible to receive an award can have the grant renewed every academic year for the duration it takes to receive their degree. Basically, if it takes 4, 6 or 8 years to achieve the money is available for each of these years. If students are eligible for a Pell Grant, then they will automatically be considered for several other federal grant programs too, including the FSEOG program. If students think that their family income is too much to be eligible for a Pell Grant they should submit a FAFSA application anyway. The Pell Grant criteria are very complex, students may be actually be eligible for some level of financial aid depending on other factors not mentioned here.