I applied for the FAFSA, and just saw my pell grant amount today.
I only got $850. I’m far from wealthy and both of my parents are disabled.
I’m going to a community college, and this will barely cover the cost of 3 classes.
What can I do? Does the FAFSA only give the pell grant or does it provide others?
Thanks. 
Did you also apply for your state’s financial aid?
What was your FAFSA EFC? With an $850 Pell, it was probably $4900 or so.
Also check with your community college to,see if they participate in the Direct Loan program. If so, you would be able to get $5500 in Direct Loan money for,your first year.
And you can work like most students.
You mention that your parents are disabled. Are they receiving disability? @kelsmom Are disability payments included on FAFSA?
@okura12 Do your parents have other income? pension? assets? What did you list as their income/assets?
It sounds like they have other assets if your EFC was around $5000 that you ended up only getting $850.
As Erin’s Dad says…get a job this summer to help pay for college. Many kids go to a CC and pay ALL costs with a summer job and a part-time school year job without getting ANY Pell.
edit…can you clarify…did you get $850 for EACH semester…or $425 for each semester??
It’s funny how you think I’m just not going to get a part time job to help pay for college. That’s COMMON SENSE. It just would of been nice to at least get enough to cover classes, so all I would of had to worry about was paying for books.
SSDI payments are not reported on FAFSA, but other disability income is reported.
@okura12, please be more specific. What is your EFC? Where did you see the $850 Pell grant amount?
Maybe your EFC is $850?
On the PHEAA website, when I log in I can see the grant amount that I was approved for, not EFC. I don’t see EFC anywhere.
Edit: I looked on my Fafsa and my EFC says “000000”
Ok that makes no sense. If your EFC is $0 then you should get full Pell, about $5900 I think.
The PHEAA website is for your state grant. Since it goes by tuition and remaining need, after Pell pays, you probably don’t have enough need left for it to be higher since CC doesn’t cost that much. State grant is up to $4k
The state grant is limited to 8 semesters so you would need to make sure you graduate in 4 years.
Do you actually have a financial aid award from the school?
How much is tuition at the CC?
Also for full Pell you would have to be a fulltime student, 12 credits, so 3 classes unless they are 4 cr classes would not be enough. If you are not a fulltime student you would only get a partial state grant as well.
Also most bachelor degrees require 120 or more credits, to graduate in 4 years you will have to take at least 15 credits per semester.
I’m planning on being a full-time student.
Please answer the questions in post #10. You’re not helping yourself by leaving information out.
@TKatana please start your own thread instead of hijacking someone else’s.
Sorry, I thought maybe I had the same problem of receiving less than expected Pell grant. Maybe it has something to do with how each school does financial aid differently?
@okura12 Please answer all Q’s asked…
Have you signed up for Fall classes? If so, how many credits?
Where are you seeing your Pell award?
Is the $850 for fall? For summer classes?
Please tell us exactly what is in your aid pkg.
@TKatana Pell is a fed grant entitlement. Schools aren’t allowed to do their own thing.
With an EFC of 0, your Pell grant amount will be $5,815 for the year, assuming you have 12 credits or more each semester.
I’m wondering if he’s taking summer classes. @kelsmom Are there any Pell grants for summer? What if the school year starts in Fall?
@mom2collegekids yeah that’s what I thought, which is why im confused because 2 different schools are giving me vastly different pell grants but I submitted the same FAFSA to both. Maybe op experiencing the same thing?