Federal Pell Grant Application Form
(FAFSA Application)

Your federal Pell grant application (or Pell grant form) is the same one required for all federal college financial aid including a federal student loan or a college loan (parent)

...the FAFSA.

Printable FAFSA application forms are available, but you should be prepared to apply for a Pell grant online.

Results will be given to you and the school much more quickly.

There is also less chance for error with the online application.

Your FAFSA EFC (Expected Family Contribution) will be calculated from the information you provide.

This number will be used, along with your cost of attendance at a school, to determine your Pell grant amounts (if any).

There are certain situations that guarantee students an automatic EFC of "0". This will enable you to get the maximum award for your enrollment status. (See Pell grant calculator.)

An automatic "0" EFC for a dependent student is given if:

• someone in the household has received benefits (within the past 24 months) from one of these programs:
• SSI
• Food Stamps
• Free and Reduced Price School Lunch
• TANF
• WIC

• if parents were not required to file a 2009 Form 1040, or the parents are not required to file any income tax return

• a parent is a dislocated worker

and

• the 2009 income of the student’s parents is $30,000 or less

An automatic "0" EFC for an independent student with dependents (other than a spouse) is given if the same criteria as above is true, substituting the student and/or spouse for "parents".

An independent student without dependents (other than a spouse) does not qualify for an automatic "0" EFC.

These are free grant applications; no matter what your income is, it can't hurt to apply and this form is required for most state and college financial aid as well.

You can indicate on the application whether or not you want to be considered for federal student loans also. Whether you choose to or not will have no effect on your Pell grant eligibility.

Your award amount will be determined by your financial qualifications only.

A Pell grant is what you might call a 'financial aid base'. It is your first layer of aid and many state and college programs will not even consider you for their financial aid until you have completed your Pell grant application (or FAFSA). And while refusing to take federal loans will not jeopardize your Pell award, it could disqualify you from getting any state college loans (for the states that have them).

The federal deadline for filling out a FAFSA is always June 30 of the school year you are applying for. For the 2010-2011 year it is June 30, 2011. Apply early, because your state FAFSA deadline is almost certainly earlier and state aid programs do run out of money.

In order to receive your award, your college must have your Pell grant application (correct and complete) by the last day of enrollment for that school year.

If you have any questions about filling out the application form, the Federal Student Aid Information Center (FSAIC) can be reached at:

1-800-4-FED-AID (1-800-433-3243) - toll free, or 1-800-730-8913 (TTY) - toll free for the hearing impaired.

If you want to fill out a paper application, you can call these numbers to have them mail you one. If you choose to do this, apart from the delay, you risk making simple mistakes that the online form would prompt you about.

For instance, leaving something blank (don't) or not rounding to the nearest dollar or using a blue pen instead of a black one...