When determining your financial need, the two factors with the most weight are the cost to attend the school of attendance, and the EFC or Estimated Family Contribution. To determine the EFC, one of 3 formulas is used to derive a number that represents what the family is expected to contribute. As a general rule, a student with a family income of $30,000 or less will have an EFC of zero and will qualify for the maximum grant.
Probably the next most significant Pell Grant qualification is whether the student is still considered as an independent or not, in other words is the student emancipated? Emancipated students are those over the age of 22, married, or veterans or current members of the armed forces. Under certain other conditions, such as when a student is exiting foster care, they may be considered emancipated at a younger age. As a rule, if a student is claimed as a dependent on the income tax return filed by his parents, he is not emancipated.
There are still other qualifying factors you must pay attention to. Students receiving the grants must make satisfactory grades, maintaining at least a 2.0 grade point average. A grant can be canceled should a student not maintain satisfactory academic progress. In some cases, students can appeal successfully for reinstatement. The majority of these grants go to undergraduates. Certain post-graduate programs, such as teaching, may also qualify. In addition, students must attend college on at least a half-time basis. The grant amount will be adjusted for half-time, three-quarters time, and full-time enrollment.
Grant recipients are automatically eligible for other Federal college grants. The National SMART Grant and the Academic Competitiveness Grant are two Federal grants that are made only to those receiving Pell Grants. Grants cannot total more than the actual attendance costs, but many students have been able to pay all the costs of attending university with just federal grants programs alone.
Even if all qualifications are met, students may still find their grants denied if the school has expended its available allotment of funds. Students who apply early have the best chance of gaining approval. If all available funding is depleted by the time an application is received, the student may be denied a grant and have to reapply the following year.
Cindy Corbin writes about the federal Pell Grant income qualifications, and the qualifications for the Pell Grant.
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