How Do I Get a Pell Grant?

A Pell Grant is a federal government grant awarded to students who show a need for financial aid t help pay for their college education. This particular grant can be used at any one of approximately 5,400 participating colleges around the country. The amount awarded through a Pell Grant depend on several different factors that include the student’s expected family contribution, cost of attending a specific college, and the student’s enrollment status.

In order to receive a Pell Grant a student must first fill out a Free Application for Federal Student Aid, or FAFSA. This document collects specific information about a student’s personal and family financial background, which is later used to determine just how much financial aid that student needs. Once a FAFSA has been filled out and evaluated the U.S. Department of Education uses a standard formula developed by Congress to evaluate the financial information reported on the FAFSA.

The specific elements used in the standardized formula to determine financial need are student’s income, parent’s income and assets, household size, and number of family members, excluding parents, attending college. Once all of this information is analyzed, the student is given a Student Aid Report which notifies him or her if they are eligible to receive federal financial aid. If the student does qualify then he is welcomed to apply for a federal Pell Grant to help pay his college tuition.

If you are expecting to go off to college in the near future, but do not think you can afford the rising costs, you should look into applying for a Pell Grant. To receive this money from the government all you need to do is fill out a FAFSA form and see if you meet the government’s requirements for financial aid.