So i know that i’ll be getting $2,960.00 for the fall and $2,960.00 for the spring semester. But, what about the quarters within the semesters? Would i get the whole $2,960.00 at the beginning of the semester or is the money split in between the quarters meaning i’d get $1,480.00 for each quarter? I’ll be going to college in California by the way.
The Pell Grant will be disbursed to the college to pay your billable costs. YOU won’t get any of the money unless there is a surplus in your bursars account once your college collects its share for bills owed to them.
If there IS a surplus, your college will refund based on its timeline and procedures to do so.
Do you have more financial aid than what the college will be billing you?
What is a quarter within a semester?
I think you are thinking like a high school schedule, where Quarter 1 is 8 weeks and Quarter 2 is 8 weeks and that combines to a 16 week semester. College costs are paid by semester, my experience with Pell and my foster son was that it was paid a certain number of weeks into the semester, like in early October. The government paid that way, I assume, because it is confirmation the student showed up and is attending class. Probably easier to pay later than try to get refunds back if they pay ahead of time and the student doesn’t show up.
My student won Gates, Horatio Alger, merit aid, Pell and NJTag. The surplus (Cost of Attendance - all the money I just mentioned) came to him as a check in late October his Freshman year. That is important to understand, because it meant he needed to pay for books, any special things like a pizza with friends, out of his own savings from working. He is an independent student (his story is complex), so this was a little hairy at first, but he settled into it.
Best of luck!
Thank you! that’s all i wanted to know.
Well, are you going to a semester school or a quarter school? Many schools in California are quarter schools, and the Pell grant will be divided by 3 (not the summer quarter unless you ask them to do that). If you are at a quarter school, it is likely your Pell will be divided into thirds, so $1973 per term, Sept., Jan., April.