Pell/Cal grants

College Search & Selection Community Colleges
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<p>Please read the whole post.</p>

<p>My question is: How long can I receive financial aid?</p>

<p>I did ask my financial aid counselor (through email) at my community college and her response didn't quite answer my question.</p>

<p>Here is what she said:
"Financial aid does not carry over from year to year, you are required to complete a FAFSA application for every academic school year for consideration. Continued financial aid eligibility will depend on the student’s financial need-estimated family contribution(EFC)(determined by the department of education) and cost of attendance."</p>

<p>then I said:
"I know you have to re-apply every year. But I was just wondering what the limit was for financial aid like the Pell grants.
I've heard that you can only receive 4 years of pell grants, another person told me you could only receive 18 months of pell grants.
so i don't know what is true. I need to know the limit because if the limit is 4 years, then i probably shouldn't apply until i transfer."</p>

<p>then she replied:
"There is not a "year" limit on the Pell Grant at this time. The policy for OCC is that you can not attempt more than 90 units. If you go over the 90 units you will be denied Financial aid, however there is still a petition process. I encourage you to still fill out the FAFSA for the time you are at OCC. If you have further questions regarding this matter then please make an appointment to meet with a financial aid specialist online at the financial aid website."</p>

<p>She said "the policy for OCC" is a maximum of 90 units of financial aid.
But I want to know what happens when I transfer. So let's say i transfer to a university, will i only get financial aid for the remainder of the 90 credits?
Or will my financial aid reset itself and allow me to receive financial aid for as long as the uni's policy allows me to?</p>

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<p>This is really important to me because Universities are much more expensive than CC’s.
So if “the amount of financial aid I have used” doesn’t reset when I transfer, then I would rather waste my financial aid on the university that i will transfer to.</p>

<p>I would appreciate if more than one person replies for validity</p>

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<p>bumpity bump</p>

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<p>The 90 unit limit applies to community colleges. After you transfer to a UC, the policies change, but you should be covered for your two remaining years, provided you don’t change your major.</p>

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<p>I’m not worried about not being covered for my 2 years at the uni that i transfer to.
I will most likely go for a masters and I’m worried that i won’t have any financial aid left for my masters.</p>

<p>So if accepting financial aid from my community college will take away financial aid for a masters, then I will refrain from applying this year. But i haven’t been able to find a definitive answer to my question. You said the policies change after I transfer but I still don’t know if the previous aid from my community college will be added to the new policy.</p>

<p>It’s ok. I didn’t expect you guys to know. I will have to email a different financial aid counselor.</p>

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<p>Question was answered:
Generally speaking, most students transfer in with about 90 units of financial aid, however you can contact
the Admissions Office of the college you want to transfer in regards to the transferring process. If you were to transfer in with
about 90 units you would be eligible for 9 quarters of financial aid. The Master’s program is a different
process for financial aid and would not affect your undergraduate studies. If you have any further questions,
feel free to email us back.</p>

<p>This came from a financial aid counselor from a university</p>