The Federal Pell Grant program, and how to qualify for a Pell Grant is often shrouded in a great deal of mystery. Tales of red tape, reams of paperwork, and dropped phone calls run rampant through the Internet. Nothing could be further from the truth, however. Qualifying for a Pell Grant will only take you about 30 minutes (if that) provided you have all of the information you are going to need, at hand.
First of all, to qualify for a Pell Grant there are additional requirements that are different from regular student loans. It does not ever have to be repaid. The maximum award as of June 2013 is $5,500. The amount that you qualify for will be determined based on your financial need, and costs to attend the school of your choice, as well as whether you are going to go to school full time or part time are all considerations.
Items you will need to qualify for a Pell Grant
*Current Tax information (or your parent’s tax information)
*A computer with an internet connection
*Income Qualifications for Pell Grant
*A FAFSA pin number (apply at Free Application for Federal Student Aid/)
How the Amounts are calculated to Qualify for a Pell Grant
Financial aid is determined by the US Dept. of Education using a formula that evaluates the financial information that you will put on the FAFSA forms. FAFSA stands for Free Application for Federal Student Aid. To do this the form requests the listing of your parent’s income and assets (even if your parents are divorced), the family’s household size, and how many of those household members are currently attending college.
They will also calculate your EFC (family contribution) which determines how much money you could potentially contribute toward the college expenses. Dependent students are those who are still living at home with their parents and who currently do and in the future will rely on them for financial support. If you do not rely on your parents for financial support, then you are considered an independent student when you start the process to understand the qualifications needed for this type of college grant.
Once you have filled out the FAFSA form you will receive via email your SAR (Student Aid Report) which lets you know if you qualify for federal aid. This information will be sent to the schools that you have indicated an interest in on the FAFSA forms. The participating schools will then notify you via email and/or mail about the award amounts and what additional paperwork they may require for disbursement in order to qualify for a Pell Grant.
In order to qualify for a Pell Grant, a student must apply to institutions that accept the grants. A Pell Grant is most often given to students who demonstrate financial need and who have not received their first bachelor’s degree (or are enrolled in post-baccalaureate programs that lead to teacher certification). Disbursement of funds can take place in one of many ways. Many colleges credit the money into a student’s school account, or they pay the student directly via a check in the mail. Most students receive disbursement at least one time per semester. How to qualify for pell? When you finally do meet the qualifications for Pell Grant 2013, finding money for college can be as easy as filling out a form online and submitting the appropriate documentation (the IRS even has a direct retrieval tool that fills out the FAFSA tax information for you), removing the mystery from the process once and for all. This is the process for how to qualify for a Pell Grant. Please share if you found this resource useful.
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