How is Pell Grant calculated based on FAFSA EFC?
Is it according to this table?
http://ifap.ed.gov/dpcletters/attachments/GEN1601Attach.pdf
Can a university ignore the FASFA EFC from the SAR(Student Aid Report), calculate their own EFC(using CSS Profile and other information) and use that to calculate to Pell Grant?
University is not providing Institutional Need Based Aid, only Merit Aid.
I think they should use the FAFSA EFC from the SAR to directly decide Pell Grant.
Also does Pell Grant come directly from federal govt to Student’s account, or Do all pell grants come to the university in a big package that the university then allocates to individual students?
Just asking because maybe even though the university is estimating a lower Pell Grant, the actual Pell Grant that will arrive might be correct.
Pell grants are based ONLY on FAFSA EFC…not from anything from CSS Profile.
Whatever your correct FAFSA EFC is, will determine the Pell Grant, if low enough.
Pell is an entitlement program. Universities follow the federal protocol in determining what you qualify for. If you don’t believe the Pell you are getting is the award you should be getting, you may have made an error in filing your FAFSA (which happens very frequently. people put the wrong number on the line and then wonder what happened.)
@blossom, I am basing my question on the Final FAFSA EFC in the SAR. So even if there were mistakes, they would have been imbedded in the FAFSA EFC number. My question is more once we know the FAFSA EFC from the SAR, the Pell Grant can be obtained from the table I provided the link for. @mom2collegekids seems to agree.
So I think I have enough to go bug them again.
But what about my second question. If the Pell Grant comes directly from federal govt, then I don’t need to worry about the University estimate of the Grant, just have to wait for the correct one to come in from the govt, and ignore the University’s estimate.
As you can see, I don’t like to talk to them, they make me feel like I am begging, or trying to extract the most I possibly can, which has some truth. But what is right is right.
The estimated Pell grant indicated on my son’s SAR (a few hundred dollars total) was pretty close to what he ultimately received from the college. Has the college revised the FAFSA at all? I’ve heard of them doing that (or it being done automatically when the tax retrieval tool was used). What’s the difference between the SAR estimate and the actual award?
The Pell grant runs through the university, so if the university changes the SAR, the Pell grant is going to change too. Don’t expect the amount off the chart from your original SAR if the university has changed the SAR.
Confirmed with FAFSA that EFC in SAR is final EFC, Post-REtrieval, without Revisions.
University stills says EFC is different than FAFSA SAR for the purposes of the Pell Grant.
Were you selected for verification?
yes, and verified, and like i said, using post-retrieval info. No revisions were made to FAFSA by University.
What is your Fafsa EFC?
What does the school say?
What is the cost of attendance at the college?
Are you a commuter?
The college’s EFC for determining what financial aid the college offers (from its own money, rather than aid which is repackaged federal aid) may be different from the FAFSA EFC that is used to determine Pell grant amounts or any other federal aid.
FAFSA EFC of 4010 which should get a Pell Grant of 1765
They are saying Pell is 765 which would imply a FAFSA EFC above 5000.
School is claming they got an EFC different from what we are seeing in the FAFSA EFC SAR, even though we already checked with FAFSA, and there has been no correction. I believe they are doing a different EFC calculation and have overriden the value they got from FAFSA in their system. They say they cannot divulge EFC they got from FAFSA.
Very high COA. Way above all Pell Grant Tables. Not commuter.
@ucbalumnus, no institutional need aid, only taking about Pell Grant.
rhe school would ONLY override the FAFSA if they find a mistake in what you put on it. In fact, the school is required to do so.
But if they did that, why would they not make a FAFSA correction back to FAFSA? There has been no FAFSA correction.
Did YOU check your old FAFSA and the most recent one…LINE BY LINE to see if there is anything different? If not, I would suggest you do so.
Have to ask. You say the school,has a very high cost of attendance. You have NO institutional aid…just a Pell Grant?
How are you paying for this college with a VERY high COA…with no need based institutional aid?
And yes…this is a related question to your post. The Pell Grant is for low income students…not usually for students who can pay the full cost of attending…minus the Pell.
FAFSA EFC of 4010 which should get a Pell Grant of 1765 They are saying Pell is 765 which would imply a FAFSA EFC above 5000. <<<
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Did you get any aid this summer for summer school? If so, how much in “free money”?
Is your school on a semester system? If so, then your Pell Grant is split into two parts.
Is your portal showing $765 grant for the semester?
Are you taking 12 credits (full time student)?
What did the school ask for in the verification? Did they say they adjusted the EFC as part of the verification?
Last year maximum Pell was $5775 and it should be $5815 this year.
@thumper1 : Merit Aid + Loans
no summer school, I understand about pell being split in 2 semesters. Yes full time.
The latest and greatest FAFSA SAR that I am able to download still has FAFSA EFC of 4010. And FAFSA said on the phone that this is still the case, when called recently.