Federal Pell Grants

What is a Pell Grant?

A Federal Pell Grant is gift aid: “free money” which does not have to be repaid UNLESS the student:

changes enrollment status prior to the tenth day of classes,
officially withdraws from classes,
does not begin all scheduled classes,
stops attending classes and fails all classes in a term, or
otherwise ceases to meet eligibility criteria.

The Pell Grant program is the backbone of all federal aid programs. It is considered to be a foundation to which aid from other sources might be added.

For 2009-2010, the maximum full time Scheduled Award is $5,350.

How do I apply for a Federal Pell Grant?

Completing the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) is the only thing a student must do to apply for a Pell Grant each year. Don’t forget to list ISU’s school code, 001692, because we must receive your FAFSA data, with a valid EFC, prior to your last day of enrollment for the academic year.

How do I know if I’m eligible?

Pell Grants are need based awards. The information a student and his or her family provide on the FAFSA is used to calculate the Expected Family Contribution (EFC) and determine Pell eligibility. Your EFC must be between 0 and 4,617 to be Pell eligible for the 2009-10 award year (July 1, 2009 to June 30, 2010).

Pell Grants are only for undergraduate degree-seeking students who have not already earned their first bachelor's degree. You must also be a U.S. Citizen or eligible noncitizen who has a high school diploma or GED. You are ineligible for a Pell Grant at ISU if you are receiving Pell Grant funds at another school during the same time period, or are incarcerated in a federal or state institution.

If you are eligible, the Federal Pell Grant will be included on your Financial Aid award notice and on iCampus.

If I am eligible, how much can I get and how will I be paid?

Your Pell Grant “Scheduled Award” amount depends on your EFC.

The actual amount of Pell you receive each semester is based on your enrollment status on the 10th day of classes. You must be enrolled 12 or more hours to receive a full-time Pell Grant. Three-quarter time is 9 to 11 hours, halftime is 6-8 hours, and less than half-time is 1-5 hours. If you are enrolled full time by both the fall and spring enrollment deadlines, you will receive 100% of your Scheduled Award.

Pell Grants are split between the fall and spring semesters. Illinois State will apply Pell Grant funds to your school charges each semester, and refund any excess funds by check or direct deposit.

NEW--Year Round Pell: Effective July 1, 2009, students may be eligible to receive up to two consecutive Scheduled Awards (200%) in a single award year if they meet certain criteria, including minimum half-time enrollment during the second Scheduled Award.

NEW--Lifetime limit: You may receive no more than nine Scheduled Awards (the equivalent of 18 full time semesters) in your undergraduate career. This only applies to students who receive a Pell Grant for the first time on or after July 1, 2008.

Will I be able to get Pell for Summer 2009 classes?

In previous years, students only had Pell eligibility left over for the summer term if they had attended less than full time for fall and spring, and had used less than 100% of their annual Scheduled Award.

This summer we have new “Year Round Pell” regulations which will allow many more students to receive summer 2009 Pell Grants. Even if you have already received 100% of your Scheduled Award for the 2008-09 award year, you may be eligible for Pell this summer based on your Scheduled Award for the upcoming 2009-10 award year, without reducing your spring 2010 eligibility.

Each student’s summer 2009 Pell eligibility must be determined manually. If your summer 2009 Pell Grant is based on your 2009-10 financial aid eligibility, then any refund will be delayed until funding is received from the federal government.

What about Summer 2010?

Unfortunately, we are waiting on final Year Round Pell regulations from the Department of Education. At this point we don’t have enough guidance to determine Pell Grant eligibility for Summer 2010 or beyond.