Pell Grant is awarded to undergraduate students who are currently taking up a bachelor’s degree and have a serious need of financial assistance. Most of the qualified students who may receive this federal grant are those who have low Expected Family Contribution or EFC.
Take note that individuals who have already earned a college degree are no longer eligible for a Pell grant and this goes the same with incarcerated individuals.
However, individuals who are undergoing a post-baccalaureate teacher certification program may still be eligible for a grant.
Read on to know more about this grant program.
Eligible individuals of the pell grant must be:
There are about 6,000 educational institutions within the country that participate in the Pell grant program.
So, if you’re wondering if the school you are attending participates with the federal student assistance program, you need not worry since there is a high possibility that they do.
If you want to know, the best thing to do is to ask the school’s administration yourself.
Unlike other federal grants that require you to go through a long application process, applying for a Pell grant is just easy. All you have to do is fill out a Free Application for Federal Student Aid or known as the FAFSA form.
Upon submitting the application form, the FAFSA will then begin to process your application first by determining your eligibility for a Pell grant and the grant amount that you will get based on your EFC.
Students are encouraged to apply for a Pell grant even if they are in doubt in terms of eligibility. Trying is never a bad choice! If you are planning to apply, take note that the FAFSA application deadline is on June 30.
However, some states set earlier deadlines for submission. If you want to know the application process and deadlines in your area, Inquiring for application details at the program’s local agency in your area is a good choice.
The amount of money you will receive after a successful application may vary. This is because the FAFSA assessed the information you have included in your application such as the following:
As of now, the maximum amount of Pell grant that the government is issuing is about 6,495 US dollars for the 2021-2022 academic school year.
However, as stated earlier, grantees will receive different amounts of money, which is determined by the information you submitted to the FAFSA.
Take note too that you may not be qualified to receive a Pell Grant if you are attending more than one school at the same time.
If your application is approved, there are two ways that the Pell grant will be given:
For those students who are undergoing work-study jobs, the grant may be given at least once a month. If you want to know the specific process in claiming your Pell grant, you may visit the program’s local agency in your area.
Now that you are qualified for a federal Pell grant, what you have to do now is to maintain eligibility for the grant program. To do this:
Usually, the duration of your eligibility for a Pell grant is 12 terms. If you already used all the terms, this means that you may no longer be eligible for a Pell grant. Further, after finally acquiring a professional degree, you will no longer receive any further grants.
Yes, it is possible given the following circumstances:
It is also possible that you can receive additional grants if:
If it happens that you turned out ineligible for a Pell grant due to your high EFC amount even if you have a parent/guardian who died due to military service, you may want to try the Iraq and Afghanistan Service grant.
No, a Pell grant is money awarded to eligible students. Thus, this is not given to be repaid by the grantee. Instead, it should be considered as one of their sources of financial aid for their studies.
Unlike Pell Grants, other financial aids like a student loan or the federal work-study program are programs that require the claimant to pay back the financial assistance s/he received.
Being a student is both a struggle and an opportunity to have a better future. Federal Pell Grant is one of the government’s programs that aims to reduce the burden of students and give others a higher chance to attend school and earn a college degree.
USDA Housing Preservation Grant, also known as the HPG or section 553 is a federal grant program that aims to help homeowners or rental property owners who have very low incomes in repairing or rehabilitating their homes may they be individually owned or rented.
Federal Supplemental Educational Opportunity Grant or known as the FSEOG is a federal student aid that aims to provide financial aid to undergraduate students who are seriously in need of financial support for tertiary educational expenses.
Iraq and Afghanistan Service Grant is a type of grant issued to eligible undergraduate college students. This grant is similar to the federal pell grant and other types of student aid programs.
FedEx Small Business Grant is a program of the FedEx Corporation that provides financial assistance within their grant competition. The said program is aiming to help and assist small business owners
Before you start the application procedure, double-check that you or your organization are eligible for the grant.