<p>I have a question because the thread isn’t 100% clear to me.</p>
<p>Currently, I’m about to finish my second semester (Spring 2010 I’ll have completed 27 credits 12+15). I JUST (like literally half an hour ago) registered for Summer classes (12 credits).</p>
<p>My question is about whether this will be a part of the 09-10 year or 10-11 year. It wasn’t quite clear in the earlier posts…or at least to me. My EFC is 0 for 09-10, and I still haven’t completed my verification for my 10-11 year. However, it was calculated to be 0 again.</p>
<p>It’s side tracked, but I have a question about the verification. I’m not sure if my parents are able to complete the verification because we haven’t officially completed our 2010 tax forms. We did a temporary estimated one, so that’s what we used. I haven’t received any news whether my TAP will cover my tuition for 10-11…so as of now, I have absolutely no idea whether I will have any aid or not. Will the Pell grant automatically come in as long as I’ve registered for classes? I’ll be full time during 10-11.</p>
<p>Your Pell (and any other federal aid) for 2010-2011 will not come through if you do not complete the verification process. It is essential that you do this, and soon. If you do not you will not have any aid for 2010-2011.</p>
<p>Whether summer aid is based on 2009-2010 or 2010-2011 FAFSA depends on the school. Some schools include summer as part of the preceding year (2009-2010) and some include it as part of the following year (2010-2011). You would need to ask your school which system they use.</p>
<p>Because there is a separate EFC for summer and the school year, applying for summer aid increased the EFC because they added the two together. If they use the combined number, it can impact the amount of the Pell grant for the year. She didn’t get one for the summer. </p>
<p>ijamjl…I’m not sure what your question is about TAP covering tuition, but if you want summer TAP make sure that you go onto the HESC website and pull up your TAP application. You must apply for summer TAP by checking the summer semester for your school. If it doesn’t allow you to, call the HESC toll free number and they’ll do it for you. But think very carefully about it before you apply as, unlike Pell, TAP is awarded for a maximum number of TAP “points” equivalant to 8 full time semesters. Also, NYS doesn’t send accelerated study TAP to schools until next fall or winter, so you’ll likely have to pay for your summer classes that exceed your Pell amount and be reimbursed by the school after they receive the TAP funds.</p>
<p>cartera, that doesn’t make sense to me at all either. Your EFC is what it is for the entire award year, regardless of how many semesters are involved.</p>
<p>That is odd. Your EFC is your EFC. The FAFSA EFC is for the entire school year. It should stay the same whether you attend school one semester or the whole year. That has been our experience anyway.</p>
<p>cartera, the school is using a 12 month EFC because your child is attending 12 months instead of the 9 that is used to calculate the SAR EFC. The 12 month EFC will be used in determining eligibility across the whole year (fall/spring/summer). That is, there will be a new 12 month COA and a new 12 month EFC for purposes of calculating your aid.</p>
<p>That said, though, there is a very important point to remember … the Pell EFC is ALWAYS the 9 month EFC. That will not vary, no matter how many semesters the student attends. So Pell will not change. If she didn’t get Pell for the summer, there are a several possible reasons: 1) she is not enrolled in at least 6 credits for summer, 2) she did not meet the academic progress requirements over the course of the academic year (if the school is using the new rules this summer), 3) the school is manually posting summer Pell & hasn’t put it on the account yet (very possible - especially if they are waiting until the end of the drop/add period to make sure that students remain in the number of credits they need in order to meet 2nd Pell requirements).</p>
<p>ijamjl, if the school is using summer as a trailer they will use your 09-10 EFC for summer aid. They may or may not be using the new rules that require monitoring for academic progression (successfully completing a year’s worth of credits over the past two semesters). If so, you would have to meet those standards in order to receive payment from your second 100% 09-10 Pell. Assuming you meet progression, you would be eligible for the second 100% of your 09-10 Pell (you’d receive only 50% of it, of course, since you can only receive up to half the 100% in any one semester).</p>
<p>If the summer is a header, the school is going to be bound by 10-11 rules, which require them to use the most beneficial EFC by comparing 09-10 & 10-11. If a verified 10-11 EFC is not available but one from 09-10 is … and if you meet the academic progression requirements … and if you remain enrolled in all of those credits … they can pay your summer Pell with using your 09-10 EFC. You wouldn’t receive any loans for the summer, though, if it’s a header & you haven’t had your 10-11 file verified, because they would be using your 10-11 EFC for all of your other aid. It’s confusing, but under 10-11 rules Pell EFC can be from one year while all other aid is from another year.</p>
<p>This is why some students who expect to see a Pell in their aid package for summer might not have it posted yet. The rules are a huge departure from what was done in the past, and actually putting them into practice has proven to be a challenge for many schools. You can always contact the school to find out … but I suggest searching the financial aid pages of the school’s website for info first!!</p>
The more I think I know, the more I discover I don’t! I did not know there was a different 12 month EFC. Apologies to cartera.</p>
<p>
Does this affect the SMART grant as well? My daughter’s summer aid includes $1000 2nd year SMART grant. I thought it was really odd as her 2010-2011 award offer already includes the entire $4,000 2nd year SMART grant, and I know she can’t get more than $4000 total for the year. So I assume part of her 2010-2011 will end up being changed to a loan at some point. And her school is a summer trailer school so seeing part of her yearr 2 smart seemed even stranger.</p>
<p>Oh, let me just confuse you further, swimcatsmom! Not all schools do it that way. For example, we treat the summer completely separately from the fall/spring, even though it is a trailer term. We don’t compute the COA & EFC as 12-month. Instead, we do a separate summer COA, which necessitates a separate 2-month or 3-month EFC (depending upon which summer term each student is enrolled in) to be computed. As a result, we do every summer student who requests loans manually (if it’s just Pell, we can batch-update/batch-post by computer). It’s time-consuming, but we find it works better for our needs. I just found out yesterday that some schools have a policy of Pell-only in summer (no loans) … I guess I know why!</p>
<p>Is your daughter in a program that is actually considered a legitimate 5-year program? If so, she is able to get 2 full Year 2 SMART awards. So if she’d be a senior in summer, they may be giving her the first part of her first Year 2 award in order to maximize her eligibility. Getting 2 Year 2 awards for a 5-year program is new for 09-10 (we don’t have any, although many engineers argue that because it “takes” them 5 years it should be considered a 5-year program!). If it’s not a 5-year program, they may be front-loading her & then the last half of her Year 2 will end up being rescinded come spring '11. Hard to say … </p>
<p>Header or trailer wouldn’t matter for SMART, since it’s 100% Year 1, 100% Year 2. If she got Year 1 in 09-10, they can still award Year 2 in 09-10 if she matriculates to senior status. Remember, the rules switched in 09-10 from the weird way of calculating to straight grade-level.</p>
<p>No she is not in a 5 year program (though she will be taking 5 years which does not count).The only 5 year program at her school is architecture. I assumed she would lose that $1000 at some point next year. I’m glad I know (some of) this stuff so it is not a nasty surprise.</p>
<p>They may do that because SMART now pro-rates the way Pell does. By awarding it in summer, she can begin receiving her Year 2 benefits. If she doesn’t enroll full time in each term of her senior year, she could then get the entire 100%. By contrast, if they waited until fall to award it & she only took 3/4 time in one of the terms, she’d lose out on 25% of her award. Also, since there is a cumulative gpa check prior to each term, it’s also a way of maximizing the student’s possibility of using all 100% in case the gpa dips prior to one of the senior terms & then rises again. It’s a good way to do it, but yes, it might lead to unhappy surprises, as well.</p>
<p>kelsmom - she is enrolled in the required 6 hours and has met the academic progress requirement. What is interesting is that there was a Pell grant listed a few weeks that disappeared. It seems this is the final offer for the summer - she was asked to accept the loans but I guess they could still offer the Pell. I should just call the school and see why it was there and then disappeared.</p>
<p>Hi i have question.
I’m currently a returning sophomore at USC with fafsa efc=0
I’m looking at taking 6 units of community college classes this summer, and after talking with the financial aid counselor there, he says i would qualify for another, AN ADDITIONAL PELL GRANT FOR SUMMER '10 if i add the college’s school code to FAFSA. According to the counselor, this will not affect my financial aid for USC since it’s the end of the 09/10 school year, and 10/11 will be reapplied without the community college’s school code.</p>
<p>Then I called USC financial aid and they said since summer is a non-traditional semester, it would not affect financial aid. I will call again tomorrow</p>
<p>but should I expect this to affect the amount of aid I receive from USC?,</p>
<p>it is noted that one must also have met the acceleration requirements in addition to part-time status in the summer, which
requires completing a full financial aid year in the fall+spring. I received 28 units this year (10 in the fall, 18 in the spring), is that enough or would I have to take more than 6 units in the summer to qualify? </p>
<p>As I understand the rules, the second Pell would be available if you were taking your summer credits at USC, but not at the CC. You might search for posts by kelsmom on this subject (if she doesn’t see this and respond)…there have been a couple of discussions on summer Pell grants over the past 3 months.</p>
<p>I am assuming that you are not taking classes at USC in the summer (just at the CC). Technically, you are supposed to be in a regular, degree granting program of studies in order to receive federal aid at a school (that is, you cannot be a guest student). I am aware, though, that there are CC’s that will classify you as a regular student, rather than a guest student, for the summer. If the CC considers you to be a candidate for federal aid at their institution, then you will have to meet the criteria for Pell at that school. It sounds like they are using 10-11 rules & paying out of the 09-10 award year, from what you report. In that case, it would not affect your 10-11 aid at USC (if all you are receiving is Pell). I can’t address how many credits you would need in order to receive a second Pell payment for summer, because it depends on how the CC computes the academic progression … they can use assumed or actual credits earned. You will need to find out whether or not the CC would consider 28 credits as “one academic year” (I would guess they will). If so, and if the 6 credits is half time, you would receive $1337 for 6 credits (Pell prorates with number of credits). </p>
<p>Actually, though, from what you say, you would still be receiving first Pell if the CC is a summer trailer. With 10 credits, you would probably only have received 37.5% Pell fall, then 50% the next semester. You should still have 12.5% of the first 100% left … which is what you get at 6 credits, anyway. So you would be eligible for that money no matter what. (Unless you got paid in fall for more credits & just did not actually earn them, of course.)</p>
<p>The only way to know for sure is to ask the CC. The rules are new & kind of confusing.</p>
Not all schools do it that way. For example, we treat the summer completely separately from the fall/spring, even though it is a trailer term. We don’t compute the COA & EFC as 12-month. Instead, we do a separate summer COA, which necessitates a separate 2-month or 3-month EFC (depending upon which summer term each student is enrolled in) to be computed. As a result, we do every summer student who requests loans manually (if it’s just Pell, we can batch-update/batch-post by computer). It’s time-consuming, but we find it works better for our needs. I just found out yesterday that some schools have a policy of Pell-only in summer (no loans) … I guess I know why!</p>