<p>I friend was awarded a Pell Grant for $5100.00 for the 10-11 school year. She is only going part time to school so after the payments for the classess were done with the awarded money ($2250.00 [fall]) there is is about 1700.00 in leftover money. She is planning in purchasing books she'll need for the courses she is taken however there will be a lot of money remaining. Could she buy a new computer with that money or the money can only be utilized for paying school classes and books?
Thanks for your responses!!!</p>
<p>Eventually they’ll send the rest of it to her in the form of a check or deposit. She can then do whatever with it, including a laptop (which is an acceptable school cost) but should not spend it on anything she doesn’t need.</p>
<p>Hmmm you might want to check before you spend the money from the Pell. I thought if you were attending PART TIME, the Pell award was prorated for that reduction in status. In other words, if you are going 1/2 time you would get 1/2 of the Pell.</p>
<p>Someone else will need to verify this.</p>
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<p>OK…help me understand the arithmetic…total Pell for the year was $5100. $2250 was spent for the fall term, leaving a balance of $2850. Shouldn’t the student be using the rest for the SPRING term??? (if indeed there is anything left…if the Pell is prorated…there’s nothing left). Where does this “$1700 leftover” come from?</p>
<p>Well, she is part time student in a Community College so the 2 classes she is taking have a total of almost 800.00 plus the money in books she may have to spend on those courses $200.00 aprox.
Leaves a remaining balance actually of $1550.00 out of the $2550.00 awarded for that semester. Can she spend the money on a pc to help her w/ her classes?</p>
<p>Like I said…you need to check to see if the Pell should have been prorated based on her PART TIME status. The award you are describing is for FULL TIME status. Check first before you spend a penny more.</p>
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<p>From info about the Pell…one of the criteria for the amount of the award here is “where you attend full time or part time” </p>
<p>So…please check to see that the award this student received is accurate for their part time enrollment status.</p>
<p>So she needs to check this with her Fin Aid school office?</p>
<p>Yes…please check with the financial aid office to make sure she should have received a FULL Pell for part time study. Please check. I could be wrong.</p>
<p>Every year someone is crying over having to pay back funds or being on suspension from fin aid because they spent money they were not entitled to get. Sometimes it takes the government a while to catch on that they made a mistake, a change was made in the set up, and to catch up with the student. When that happens, and a student has taken and spent funds that s/he was not entitled to have, s/he is going to have to pay it back before getting another dime anywhere. If you put it off, you can be delayed for even longer, because a bureacracy like the federal government turns direction like a herd of elephants. Veeeery slowly. But once on a rampage it is heavy hitting.</p>
<p>The award was probably made based on the assumption she would be enrolled full time. If she is only going part time her Pell grant will be reduced to reflect that. For instance if the 2 classes are equal to half time enrollment then the pell would be reduced by half. (if they are equal to less than half time then the pell would be reduced by even more).</p>
<p>Swimcatsmom is correct. The award was made based on the assumption of full time attendance. Here is how Pell works:</p>
<p>100% award for year (“scheduled award”)
50% per term (“term award”)
For each term, the award pays based on enrollment —
12+ credits=100% of term award (50% of scheduled award)
9-11 credits=75% of term award (37.5% of scheduled award)
6-8 credits=50% of term award (25% of scheduled award)
5 or fewer credits=25% of term award (12.5% of scheduled award)</p>
<p>(note: at some of the higher EFCs, Pell won’t actually pay out at less than full time - see the 2010-11 Pell schedule for the payments at each EFC and each enrollment level)</p>
<p>Some schools have different budgets based on enrollment (full time or part time). Others budget only for full time and the aid is awarded with the assumption that the student will be full time; dropping below full time will cause the aid to change accordingly.</p>
<p>Either the school in question packages all students at full time then prorates aid based on enrollment or the school incorrectly awarded the student at full time (if they do have part time budgets). I suggest the student contact the financial aid office immediately to find out what she will actually end up getting in terms of aid at her enrollment level. I don’t think it’s going to work out as she thinks it will.</p>
<p>As for the question about spending refund checks … financial aid is for educationally related expenses. Students are free to spend their refunds as they see fit, and a computer is certainly an educationally related expense.</p>