Federal Pell grant is one of the most popular grants to fulfill the financial need for education. Education is indeed a really important thing for us to be success in life, however as the cost for it increasing every year, the access to a decent education institution become harder due to ridiculously expensive tuition and expenses. For those with financial difficulty scholarships such as the Federal Pell grants application become one of the best solutions to turn to. By getting the grant, your financial burden will be significantly reduced and unlike student loan, you won’t be required to pay it back. In the scholarships.com it is mentioned that the Pell grants are provided for student with high financial need with the eligibility criteria based on your unmet financial need in your effort to pursue your college degree. To get the grant, however, is not easy. A lot of effort, time, and patience are needed to find and actually be awarded the right Pell grant that cater your financial need.
Okay, enough with the introduction. Let’s start discussing the steps by steps instruction for Pell Grant application.
- Eligibility
So, who can get the Pell grant and who can’t? According to excite.com to be eligible for Pell Grant application, the applicant has to meet these criteria:
- Need financial assistance in order to pursue academic degree, in order to determine whether the applicant are in need of financial assistance or not, one have to fill out the Free Application for Federal Student Aid or FAFSA form. More about FAFSA for will be explained in the later section of this article.
- The applicant is a United States citizen or eligible non citizen
- The applicant is enrolled in a certificate or degree program at an accredited school.
- The applicant must have high school diploma or its equivalent General Education Development or GED certificate
- How to Apply?
If you think you have met the eligibility criteria, the next step for Pell Grant application is to fill out the Free Application for Federal Student Aid or FAFSA form. This can be done online by visiting the website at www.fafsa.ed.gov/ or if you feel uncomfortable writing your financial information online you can always choose to send it by mail.
After you visit the website you simply have to fill out all the necessary information in the FAFSA form. The applicant also required to attached all the relevant documents such as tax return, detailed statement of income, and family bank account statements. This information is needed to determine the level of financial assistance to help the applicant educational need. The FAFSA submission start on January 1st of each year and due June 30th of each year.
After submitting the FAFSA you will receive a SAR or student aid report that contains your EFC or expected family contribution. The EFC determines how much financial assistance you can get from Pell Grant application as well as your eligibility for federal grant. The maximum amount of money you can get from the Pell grant program for the 2013-2014 award year is $5,635.
References:
- Pell Grants Application. excite.com/education/financial-aid/pell-grants-application
- Images: pellgrantamount.net, governmentbusinessgrants.com.au, pellgranteligibility.com
