<p>This is a little late but I've just found College Confidential and am still trying to figure out why I was rejected about a month or so ago.</p>
<p>My father has poor vision to the point where he is unable to drive and has been unemployed for the last four years. My mother is our only source of income and makes from $70,000 to $80,000 a year as an accountant, somewhere in between, I forget the exact numbers. </p>
<p>My GPA was 3.69. </p>
<p>Why was I rejected? Was my mother making SO MUCH MONEY? Was I just nearly above the bracket for financial aid? Was my GPA that low that I didn't deserve any money? </p>
<p>The "helpful" PDF they linked me to telling me why I was rejected was about as helpful as telling me that my FAFSA got rejected just because!</p>
<p>What do you mean rejected? Didn’t qualify for Pell?</p>
<p>The FAFSA is simply a financial aid form that determines what federal financial aid you may qualify for. With an income that high it is unlikely you will qualify for pell, but you may get other aid like grants and scholarships if your school offers them.</p>
<p>How do I receive Pell grants?</p>
<p>I don’t understand what happened with you. Did you file FAFSA and get a SAR and EFC? That is all that FAFSA does, is calculate your EFC. You then need to send the results to the colleges to which you were applying, and they are the ones who put together an award package for you. </p>
<p>If you are a US citizen, permanent resident (green card), registerd for the draft if male and don’t have legal issues that might preclude you from clearing the FAFSA vetting process, you would be entitled to borrow up to $5500 from the Stafford loans as a student, and your parents, if citizens are eligible to apply for Parent Loans. . With an income of $70K a year, you would not qualify for PELL. </p>
<p>So what is the issue here? Did you apply to colleges and send have the FAFSA info sent to them, following their (each college’s) for financial aid.? </p>
<p>Be aware that other than the Stafford loans, you are not entitled to get anything. Most colleges do not meet need, so it is possible that you did not get any awards from your college. But FAFSA does not give you anything; it’s just a calculator and clearinghouse for federal aid.</p>
<p>Edit to add…other posts today indicate you are considering public universities in California. Are you a CA resident? Did you graduate from a CA high school? Did you submit applications and GPA verification for the Calgrant (if your family income is really below $80k)?</p>
<p>Pell grants are for those with a FAFSA EFC under $5400 or so. With a family income of $70,000 or more, you would not qualify for this grant (unless maybe you have three siblings in college while you are in college).</p>
<p>Your FAFSA was not “rejected”. You simply have income that is too big to qualify for federally funded grant money. I’m going to guess that your EFC was in the $25,000 range…or so. </p>
<p>If your family has significant unreimbursed medical expenses related to your dad, and you have documentation of what you were required to pay out of pocket, you can ask your college(s) what their process for a special circumstances consideration is. The colleges will tell you their procedures. These are NOT guaranteed and are considered on a case by case situation.</p>