<p>I applied for a pell grant with and received a 0. I obtained an AA degree over 25 years ago, but cannot use the degree due to a knee diease. I am being told I do not qualify because I have a degree. Anyway to get around this so I can pursue a different career?</p>
<p>You don’t qualify for Pell if you already had a bachelors or professional degree. But I think if you have an associate degree you should still qualify (if you have a 0 EFC). Are you sure you didn’t inadvertently say on the FAFSA that you have a bachelors?</p>
<p>My understanding of the Pell Grant is that if you only have an Associates degree then you can get the Pell Grant again, unless you used up all the money the first time you went to college. I have a friend who went to college for like 15 years and was still getting grants since she never become an actual graduate student. Last I knew she had two associates degrees and had finally finished a Masters. All three were in different majors. </p>
<p>Did you fill out the FAFSA? Or did someone just tell you you wouldn’t be able to get Pell Grant money? Even if you didn’t get PG money you could still get loans. </p>
<p>Someone else with more knowlegde will come along soon.</p>
<p>Actually, there is no “using up all the money the first time” … yet. Starting this year, the feds will keep tabs on the percentage of Pell grant you use each year. Students will not be allowed to exceed 900%. Now students can get up to 200% each year (don’t get excited - basically it means you can get Pell in summer sessions if you go at least 1/2 time). It sort of means a student can get Pell for 18 semesters, but not really … because not all students get the full 50% each semester. So it’s a bit confusing. Anyway …</p>
<p>Look at your FAFSA. I bet you said you received a bachelors degree. You need to let your financial aid office know that you gave an incorrect answer to that question. Schools have different ways of wanting you to make the change … and they also need to award the Pell grant, which may mean adjusting your current award package.</p>
<p>OOOh, I just thought of something else …</p>
<p>Are you in a regular undergraduate, degree seeking program? You must be in order to receive Pell. You can’t just be taking classes.</p>
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Don’t know why i said the 0 EFC - you don’t need a 0 to get the Pell, only to get the full Pell. You can still get reduced amounts of Pell with an EFC up to @ 4619.</p>
<p>yes I only put I have a AA degree. It is the college that says I don’t quailify.</p>
<p>I had a AA in criminology but due to knee injury I am unable to work in that field. I want to major in business so I can start a restaurant. The degree is over 25 years ago and I don’t remember if I received a pell grant back then. I don’t want to take out loans.The school is the one that says no, but did give me an appeal paper to fill out. We will see how that goes… Thank-you all</p>
<p>I don’t understand why they say you don’t qualify. It doesn’t matter whether or not you got a Pell grant years ago. All that matters is if you are in a regular, degree granting, undergraduate program right now. If you do not have a bachelors degree & you are in a Pell eligible program of study, there is no reason you can’t have a Pell grant. If you want to pm me with details about your school & your program of studies, I will see if I can help you figure out what is going on.</p>
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<p>Kelsmom, can you clarify the summer Pell program for me? It looks like the student can only get summer aid from their own college (matriculated, 24 hours completed) but does the summer coursework have to result in a change to their expected graduation date? And can they only get it if they’re working on an associate’s or bachelor’s degree? In other words, are the kids enrolled in first professional degree programs excluded?</p>
<p>Pell is only available through a bachelors. Professional students are not eligible. From what I have seen on CC Students in those combined programs (like the 6 year pharmacy ones) are Pell eligible in the beginning of the program but lose the eligibility at a point in the program when they are classified as professional students. Seems to be around year 3 from the couple of posts I have seen.</p>
<p>Thanks for the reply, SCM. That’s what I thought but wondered if they eligible for summer Pell when they’re still classified as undergrads (ie completing their prerequisites for prior to the professional phase)? The wording I’ve seen on the extra summer Pell seemed to specify that students be enrolled in an associate/bachelor’s program and, of course, the first professional degree kids are technically in neither if their major is pre-pharmacy (not a degree, just an advising track) for the first two years and then PharmD. I think some of the DPT programs work this way as well.</p>
<p>It’s true that students can only get summer Pell at their home institution. I point this out because many students think they can take classes as a guest student in the summer & get Pell, but they can’t. Guest students are not eligible for federal aid.</p>
<p>PharmD students get Pell until a particular point in their program where they are considered professional. At my school, it’s around the beginning of year 5 of the 6 year program - but it’s actually based on credits, so the change can come sooner.</p>
<p>Yes, as long as the PharmD student is eligible for undergrad aid, they are eligible for the extra Pell. In order to get Pell beyond the first 100% in a particular award year, the student must be enrolled at least half time. We have one financial aid officer in charge of the PharmD students. He monitors their credits & classifies them properly in the system so they get the correct aid. Check with your D’s school to find out how many credits are allowed before hitting the professional phase. It’s the number at the start of the term that makes them eligible.</p>
<p>Thanks, kelsmom, that helped alot. It’s too bad they have to take the summer courses at their home institutions. For some of the gen ed requirements she was planning to take them at a SUNY CC near us - very economical and easy to transfer. Taking them from the SUNY university is easily doubles the cost. But they’ve added so many prerequisite classes, it’s not practical to take them during regular sessions when she’s already at 17-19 hours each semester. Hopefully the university will also offer them as online classes. It’s odd how different PharmD programs have different cutoffs for the grad/undergrad levels. At UB it’s 3 years undergrad and you’re automatically a grad student…no mention of hours.</p>