Pell Grant Form...Your FAFSA Application

And, you never know what providing a different answer might lead to next.

If you're like most people, you want to be prepared for what you will be asked- and not just with knowing what information to gather for your answers.

There are seven parts to the Pell grant form (or FAFSA):

1. student demographics
2. school selection
3. dependency status
4. parent demographics
5. financial information
6. sign and submit
7. confirmation

"What is a Pell grant?" answers basic questions about the program.

When you apply for Pell grant at the FAFSA website the application starts with a login page where you will enter your SSN, name and date of birth. For added security, use the virtual keyboard icon to enter your data. The next page is an introductory help page where you can find answers to FAQ's about the form.

1...Student Demographics

• Name
• Social Security Number
• Date of birth
• Permanent mailing address
• Length of residence in your state
• Phone number
• E-mail address
• Marital status
• Driver's license (optional)

(If you answer "yes" to driver's license, you will be asked to provide your driver's license number and the state which issued it.)

The next page collects information which will determine your Pell grant eligibility.

• citizenship
• high school diploma? (new for 2011-2012; if yes, then high school name, city, state)
• student status (graduation date, grade level, degree program)
• parents' schooling completed
• drug convictions

A status message on the right will let you know if you are eligible for federal aid when you complete this section of the Pell grant form.

2...School Selection

Next you need to select a housing plan (on campus, with parent, or off campus).

Questions about your enrollment status have been dropped for 2011-2012.

You will be asked if you are interested in work-study. There is no longer any reference to loans. You will automatically be considered for federal student loans. (You can always refuse them.) The TEACH program is not funded this year and questions used for it have been dropped from the Pell grant form.

3...Dependency Status

• born before January 1, 1988
• married
• working on a master's doctorate or graduate certificate
• children for whom you provide more than half of their support
• dependents for whom you provide more than half of their support
• serving on active duty in the U.S. Armed Forces
• veteran of the U.S. Armed Forces
• from age 13, deceased parents or foster care or ward of the court
• emancipated minor
• legal guardianship
• homeless on or after July 1, 2009

If you are judged to be dependent, you must provide parental information, except under special circumstances.

4...Parent Demographics

• marital status- anything but single requires dates
• names
• social security numbers
• birth dates
• email address
• residency
• household size
• number of children attending college between July 1, 2011, and June 30, 2012

5...Financial Information

New for this year: You will have the opportunity to transfer your tax information directly from the IRS, if you've filed your taxes and you are filling out the FAFSA after Jan. 30, 2010.

First, the parents' information:

• completed a 2010 tax return (completed, will file, will not file)
• if yes, adjusted gross income
• father/stepfather earnings from income
• mother/stepmother earnings from income
• dislocated worker
• benefits from federal programs
• eligible to file a 1040A or 1040EZ
• 2010 income tax
• 2010 exemptions
• checklist of additional financial information and untaxed income (check and fill in amounts if any apply)
• child support paid
• taxable earnings- work-study, assistantships or fellowships
• reported grant and scholarship money
• combat or special combat pay
• cooperative education earnings
• payments to tax-deferred pension/savings plans (see FAFSA deferred compensation for more info if this applies to you)
• IRA deductions, payments to self-employed SEP, SIMPLE and Keogh
• child support received
• tax-exempt interest
• untaxed amounts for IRA distributions
• untaxed portions pensions
• housing, food, living allowances (military, clergy, etc.)
• veterans benefits (not education)
• unreported untaxed income like workers comp, first-time homebuyer tax credit, the first $2,400 of unemployment benefits received, etc.
• total current balance of cash, savings, and checking accounts
• total value investments, including real estate (not home)
• net worth of current businesses and/or investment farms

After this, the same information needs to be filled out for the student.

6...Sign and Submit

Next, you will be asked if you are a preparer. (If you are, you will have to submit your SSN and employer identification number.)

Next comes the student's name, social security number and PIN.

A legal form must then be read and agreed to (thereby completing the eligibility for federal aid) certifying that you will only use the aid for higher education costs, that you have not defaulted on a federal loan (or owe money on a grant), that you will inform your school if you default and that you will not use the Pell grant for more than one school in the same time frame.

Both you and your parents need to agree to:

- provide any info to verify your information and to allow the Department of Education to cross-check it

- certify that your identification is accurate

Click the submit button and you will receive the...

7...Confirmation

You will then be presented with two choices:

1. You may allow your parents' information to be transferred to another FAFSA (for a sibling); or
2. You may start a state application for state-based financial aid.

In both cases, all your information will be transferred and pre-filled.

Below this, is your Estimated Family Contribution (EFC) based on your federal Pell grant application answers.

Based on your FAFSA EFC, you may be informed that you are eligible to receive

• a federal Pell grant of up to __dollars
• an Academic Competitiveness Grant of up to __dollars
• low interest federal student loans

and that you might also be eligible for other federal, state or institutional scholarships, grants and/or work-study programs.

**Federal Pell grant award schedules for 2011-2012 are very similar to 2010-2011- the minimum and maximum awards are the same, although there are slight differences in between them.

Pell grant amounts are estimates only, based on the maximum you can qualify for. Pell grant qualifications also depend on your cost of attendance. This figure is supplied by the college. Unless you know for certain which school you will attend, grant amounts are estimates.

If you know both your EFC and your COA (cost of attendance) you can use the Pell grant calculator to more accurately predict your award amount.

If you want to use your federal Pell grant eligibility to take summer courses also, make sure that you fill out the following year's Pell grant form (as well as the one for the past year) so that you can get the award for whichever year will pay you more.