Pell Grant Qualifications
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To qualify for a Pell grant, you must demonstrate financial need- After all, that's what a Pell grant is for.
There is a different FAFSA formula for each of these:
- a dependent student
- an independent student without dependents other than a spouse
- an independent student with dependents other than a spouse
(Starting this year, a family income of $30,000 or less gives a student a FAFSA EFC number of 0.)
The Department of Education calculates your EFC using the appropriate 2010-2011 FAFSA formula.
This number will be a combination of your income and your assets (waiving a portion of your net worth to protect education savings and/or family businesses or farms).
Household size and the number of children in college are also weighed in this formula.
Your adjusted available income is then multiplied by a fractional rate- The higher the income, the higher the rate. The result is your EFC.
To meet Pell grant qualifications for the 2010-2011 school year, the highest your EFC can be is 5273. (The Health Care and Education Reconciliation Act of 2010 (HCERA) increased it from 4617.) Learn more about these federal Pell grant changes.
However, applying for a Pell grant is especially important if your income for your FAFSA year was high, but your circumstances have changed since then. Financial aid administrators do have the ability to make changes to the federal methodology formula so that you can qualify even if your EFC would be too high based on the official guidelines.
And Pell grants are sometimes given to students whose family incomes even exceed $60,000:
Other data for the 2008-2009 FAFSA year shows that 7% of Pell-eligible students had contributions listed from assets on their form. Qualifications for a Pell grant are more than just income guidelines. In order to receive a grant, the cost of attendance at a school must be higher than the expected family contribution. Also, Pell grant amounts depend on your:
- expected family contribution- calculated from the information supplied on the Pell grant form
- your cost of attendance- as estimated by the school
- your enrollment status- full time, three-quarters time, half time, or below half time
But meeting all these conditions will not do you any good if your school has used up their allotted grant money by the time they get your application. Apply for the Pell grant online- There are added instructions, faqs and help features as well as edits that prevent mistakes from being entered on the form. And, your results will be sent more quickly to your school.
Once you receive your award, make sure that you are familiar with Pell grant requirements so that you can continue to receive financial aid every year. Your federal Pell grant eligibility may also extend to two awards in one school year.
If you know that you qualify, find out what your award should be using the Pell grant calculator.
And make sure that the school you've picked out meets its' Pell grant qualifications, also. This is a list of eligible schools where the grants may be used.
Pell grant qualifications are less stringent than ever before. This year, provision have been included for a simplified EFC formula for dislocated workers and recipients of federal benefits. And more students than ever meet Pell grant eligibility standards.return from Pell grant qualifications to Pell grant
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