<p>I received a pell grant for the summer of 2011 I will not be taking class this summer and I was wondering if I could use the summer pell grant in the fall?</p>
<p>No, the summer Pell is only available for the summer…the unused balance does not carry over to the fall, but you should be eligible for the typical Pell during the fall.</p>
<p>Students are often confused about what happens to the portion of the Pell grant that they do not use. Schools are not actually paid the Pell grant by the government until the student is enrolled … so if a student never enrolls, the school never gets the money. Likewise if they take less than a full time course load, the Pell grant is prorated & the school only receives that amount from the government.</p>
<p>For the past two years, the government has allowed two Pell grants in one award year for students who qualify. Starting in 2011-12 award year, the rules have changed back to one full Pell in an award year. Students who take less than 12 credits in the fall or spring might have remaining money from their Pell grant for next summer, because they can receive a total of 100% of the scheduled award during the award year. So if a student with a 0 EFC is awarded $5550 for the 2011-12 award year … takes 12 credits fall & receives $2775, 11 credits spring & receives $2081 … that student still has $5550-2775-2081=$694 left to use in the summer. However, if the student doesn’t go to school in the summer, that money simply is never paid out. It wasn’t really “there” in the first place. It would be there in the right circumstances, but is just a promise of payment otherwise.</p>