Can a college refuse to give you an awarded Pell grant?

by Melissa Boros
(Ohio)

I was awarded a Pell Grant for the 2010/2011 school year. My college refuses to use it, stating that I have been in the court reporting program beyond the allotted 3 years. Their program booklet states, however that this particular program can take up to five years. I am entering the 5th year. Can they refuse it based solely on this?

ANSWER:

Your school sets the standard for SAP (satisfactory academic progress). New regulations were adopted this year by the Department of Education which tried to make these standards more consistent among (and within) schools, but the schools still have the flexibility to decide what is satisfactory and what is not for their students.

If you have the brochure, make an appointment with your financial aid office, and find out if their standards have recently changed. If they have, ask them how to file an appeal. (All schools must have an appeals process.) Make sure you point out that you were never officially notified about a change in their requirements for the program.

My feeling is that this is something that needs to be worked out with your school. The Department of Education does not want to micromanage each student's Pell grant problems. However, you can contact them at 1-800-433-7327 and see what they advise. (When it comes to financial aid, always double-check anyone's answers- even within a department people can interpret regulations, differently.)