I am glad to find this site. I am rushing to try to register for the Spring 2017 Semester and I am not very well prepared as I have been out of school for 15+ years. I qualify for pell grants and I am considering taking only part time hours for the first semester to work my way back in. My question is, will this penalize me in what money is available in the long run. If part time funding counts almost as much toward lifetime cap as full time does, then I should buckle down and try to go full time from the get go. Any advice would be greatly appreciated.
Pell eligibility is not actually semesters … it’s % used. It’s based on your usage for the year, but basically: In a single semester, 1-3 credits=6.25%; 4-5 credits=12.5%; 6-8 credits=25%; 9-11 credits=37.5%; 12 credits or more=50%. You can monitor your Pell % usage by logging into your account at www.nslds.ed.gov.