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Pell Grant Policies

Pell Grant Proration

Depending on your Expected Family Contribution (EFC), you may qualify to have your Pell Grant prorated at different enrollment levels. The following table explains the amount of Pell Grant funds you could receive depending on the number of program applicable (PA) credits you take:

Number of PA CreditsPell Grant Award Amount
12+Full
9-11.53/4
6-8.51/2
0.5-5.51/4

Year-Round Pell

You may be eligible to receive up to 3 Full Pell Grants in an academic year. After you receive 2 Full semesters of Pell Grant funds in an academic year, you must be enrolled in at least 6 program applicable (PA) credits to receive any additional Pell Grant funds.

Example: You received a Full Pell Grant for both Fall and Winter semesters. In order to get any additional Pell Grant funds for Spring, you must enroll in at least 6 program applicable credits. (Note: Proration still applies—see the Pell Grant Proration table above).

Lifetime Pell Limit

You are eligible to receive up to 600% of Pell Grant funds while earning your first bachelor’s degree. One Full Pell Grant (12+ PA credits) equals 50%, which would grant you 12 semesters of Pell Grant funds. If you are attending half-time every semester, you could potentially receive up to 24 semesters of Pell Grants. You can check your total lifetime usage when you log into your account on studentaid.gov.

Other Pell Grant Policies

  • Pell Grant funds are subject to the Financial Aid Determination Date.
  • Dropping classes, withdrawing from the semester, and/or not participating in your enrolled program applicable classes may require you to owe back the Pell Grant funds you received.
  • You cannot receive Pell Grant funds at more than one school during the same enrollment period.
  • You cannot receive Pell Grant funds for disqualified repeated courses.