<p>I'm wondering, if someone who was enrolled into classes, and rewarded a pell grant, ends up dropping the classes before the semester starts (family issues arose for me, had to delay my education), will they erase that part of the lifetime percentage of pell grants rewarded?</p>
<p>You may need to send a PM to Kelsmom. Since you never took the classes, and the money was never really awarded, it might be somewhat similar to when kids are awarded pkgs from a number of schools that they applied to. The whole thing is cancelled as if it never happened. </p>
<p>Hopefully Kelsmom will respond.</p>
<p>Some schools disburse aid before the semester actually begins, and if the student formally withdraws before the first day of class, all the money will be returned to the government. You would not have used any lifetime eligibility in that case.</p>
<p>Now, there are some factors that could come into play that would change this answer. If you did not formally withdraw before the first day of class, you would be entitled to a portion of your Pell grant based on the number of days you were enrolled before you formally withdrew. In that case, you would have used some eligibility (based on the amount your retain from the award divided by the total amount of the semester award).</p>
<p>Thanks Kelsmom</p>
<p>To give some more detailed factors. I dropped out before the official withdrawal period (so I wouldn’t get any W’s on my record) and before the Pell Grant disbursement date. I believe the money is being sent back to the Feds. If it is indeed sent back, this will deduct the percentage used of my lifetime eligibility yes?</p>
<p>Right. What the feds are tracking is actually the total percentage of awards you use. They take the payment divided by the annual award (the amount you would get if you were full time), and that is the percentage you have used. Then they add the percentages for your total … meaning you can get Pell more than 12 semesters if you aren’t full time every semester. In the case of not actually attending & not getting paid any Pell, you didn’t use any of the award (the whole amount was cancelled for the semester).</p>
<p>Just looked up my lifetime eligibility used, it’s now “25.009%” When the money is sent back, will it be deducted to zero (what it was before this semester)?</p>
<p>If this is your first semester receiving Pell, if your withdrawals were recorded as prior to the first day of classes … yes. I would suggest calling your financial aid office just to be sure that your withdrawal was recorded correctly.</p>
<p>Hmm, it looks like I might get the distribution. See, I dropped out of classes before the withdrawal deadline, but not necessarily before all the classes started. However, it looks like I’ll be ordered to fork the money back (understandably). If this is the case, and the money is sent back to the feds (I believe this is the law yes?), they will deduct my lifetime eligibility percentage back yes, since I couldn’t keep the money?</p>
<p>You earned a portion of your Pell grant, based on the number of days you were enrolled after the semester began. The school will do a federally-mandated calculation called a Return of Title IV Funds (R2T4). They will figure out how much you “earned,” and they will send back the rest - you will owe them for whatever was returned. However, you can request that the school return the entire amount (and you would owe the school that money). You will get a communication from the school -probably to your student email address, so watch for it - that will tell you about your R2T4, so call them as soon as you get it if you want the full amount returned. Otherwise, the amount you get for your R2T4 will be divided by the full amount of your annual Pell award - and you will be considered to have used that percentage toward your 600% lifetime eligibility.</p>
<p>Just to clarify - YOU will owe money only if you received a refund before classes began (some schools do that). Otherwise, the school returns the money and you won’t realize it other than to see your lifetime Pell usage adjust downward. However, IF they are required to offer you a post-withdrawal disbursement of your Pell due to R2T4, you might get some money … in which case, you can turn it down to keep your Pell usage at 0.</p>