How to Apply for a Pell Grant

Most students who are interested in receiving financial aid wonder about the various kinds of aid that are out there in some capacity. When doing this many students come across the Pell Grant, as it is perhaps one of the most popular and best kinds of aid to receive by virtue of it being a grant that doesn’t have to be paid back. You now may be asking yourself, “what is a Pell Grant?”, as this is actually the correct question to ask if your interest has been sparked by the mention of not having to pay a particular type of aid back at any point.

Asking yourself, “what is a federal Pell Grant?” is only the beginning of what you should be asking yourself if you are interested in getting this award, as there are a number of things you should know if you want to become eligible and receive the maximum amount of aid possible. First off, as was stated previously, it is a federal grant that doesn’t have to be paid back, ever! This means that it is unlike even the best low interest federal student loans that while very good kinds of aid to receive, must be paid back in-full at some point in the future. The Pell is a grant, and thus never has to be paid back, and is therefore perhaps one of the best types of financial aid to receive in combination with a scholarship if you can become eligible.

Becoming eligible may not be so simple though, as the Pell Grant was designed for students that come from lower-income families who are in dire financial need of such funding. The Pell Grant is awarded annually, so you need to apply for it each year although applying for a Pell Grant is very simple because you are automatically applying when you fill out your FAFSA each year. By filling out a FAFSA you automatically put yourself in the running for a Pell Grant, and while it doesn’t automatically make you eligible, you’ll at least be notified of your eligibility status after filling out a FAFSA.

The Pell Grant can be used towards any education-related expense, and the maximum award for the 2010-11 school year is at 5,500 dollars per year. Once you become eligible to receive the Pell Grant you are not immediately granted the full amount right off the bat, and instead your financial need, cost of attendance, and enrollment status are taken into consideration to evaluate just how much aid you are able to receive. Assessing your Pell Grant eligibility is fairly easy to do, and you simply need to take into account your EFC in combination with your ability to satisfy the litany of Pell Grant requirements that are listed somewhere else on this site. If your EFC is lower than the cutoff threshold, and you pass all of the listed Pell Grant qualifications then you should be able get some amount of aid by way of the Pell.