Federal Pell Grant Program

The Federal Pell Grant Program is an entitlement program for students pursuing their first undergraduate degree. Students must demonstrate financial need to qualify. Students who have already earned a bachelor’s degree are not eligible for Federal Pell Grant funds.

The Federal Pell Grant Program is federally funded with the purpose of helping financially needy students meet the cost of postsecondary education. This program is centrally administered by the federal government and is typically the foundation of an undergraduate student’s aid package.

In order to determine eligibility for the Federal Pell Grant, the University must receive the results of the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) in the form of a valid Institutional Student Information Report (ISIR) from the Department of Education’s Central Processing Service (CPS). The Federal Pell Grant Scheduled Award is based upon the official Expected Family Contribution (EFC) and the Federal Pell Grant Cost of Attendance (COA). Students cannot receive more than 100% of the Federal Pell Grant Scheduled Award within an award year, and a student’s maximum duration of Pell Grant eligibility is six scheduled awards, as measured by the percentage of lifetime eligibility used (one scheduled award equals 100% lifetime eligibility used). A student is ineligible to receive further Pell Grant funds if they have reached or exceeded the 600% limit.

All Undergraduate students enrolled at the University are considered to be full-time students for purposes of calculating the Federal Pell Grant Scheduled Award.

The amount of Federal Pell Grant awarded is based upon the length of the payment periods to be funded and the EFC indicated on the student’s valid SAR/ISIR.

The portion of the enrollment that is funded based upon a particular year’s SAR/ISIR depends upon the student’s payment periods that begin in that year. Payment periods are normally funded from the year in which they begin.

When a payment period falls into two award years (crosses over July 1st), it is called a “crossover payment period”. The University will assign crossover payment periods to the award year that best meets the needs of its students and maximizes a student’s eligibility over the two award years in which the crossover payment period occurs.

For an academic year, the student is awarded the full Federal Pell Grant Scheduled Award determined by the EFC and COA. When less than a full academic year is to be funded, the Scheduled Award is prorated appropriately.

Federal Pell Grant funds are generally scheduled for disbursement at the beginning of each course, module, or payment period, in conjunction with the achievement of Satisfactory Academic Progress. The funds scheduled represent, at maximum, funding for all credits that should be earned during the payment periods to be funded from the appropriate award year.  Students enrolled in an undergraduate term-based program, e.g., Bachelor of Arts in Legal Studies, who are eligible for a Federal Pell Grant will have their Pell Grant award recalculated upon vesting in each course in each module to determine if the student has made changes in his/her schedule that results in a change in enrollment status or cost of attendance.  Schedule changes that affect a student’s Pell Grant award will result in an adjustment, increase or decrease, to the award.  Adjustments will be made as soon as possible, but no later than seven days from the recalculation date.  Students must post attendance and vest in each course of a module for the course to count towards the Pell enrollment status.

Federal Pell Grant funding is scheduled for all eligible students who submit a final and valid SAR/ISIR while enrolled and prior to the end of the award year.