I will be attending college as a first-time freshman this fall. I have received financial aid offers from four schools so far and only one of the four includes a Pell Grant as part of the package (in the neighborhood of $1300 for the year). My understanding was that the federal government determined the amount each student would receive and that it would apply to any school (as long as the cost of attendance at that school is higher than the award). I initially thought it was an error, but it would be strange if the same mistake was made by 3/4 schools. Does anyone have any insight? Are Pell Grant amounts actually determined by the universities?
Thank you in advance!
It should be the same amount (based on the EFC) at any school. But did this one school change your FAFSA/EFC? If they made a change that the other schools didn’t pick up on, that could be why you qualified for a Pell at that school.
@twoinanddone How would this school have changed my FAFSA/EFC? I thought that was based solely on the information I provided on the financial aid forms (which were identical for all schools). Sorry, just trying to understand
Sometimes the school sees an error and corrects it. It could be something like the number of students attending college, something on the DRT (or W2 if you submitted them). Sometimes it is your favor, sometimes they see that some income was left off.
What was your EFC when you first submitted the FAFSA?
@twoinanddone Okay, just did some digging and it looks like the one school made an error in giving me the Pell Grant. I will contact them soon to have it fixed. Thank you!