After filling out his FAFSA form, it turns out our middle son qualifies for a Pell Grant since he turns 24 this year. How does that work? Does he need to apply for it, or does it just come from the school automatically? This would be huge for him.
(I would just call the school, but it’s the American University of Beirut and I’ve had no luck reaching them so far - even their New York City office seems impenetrable). I thought I would ask here first!)
He files the FAFSA and it will be applied to his bill from a participating school. If there is anything remaining after paying his bill, he’ll receive a refund from the school according to its refund policy. Both schools my kids went to combined all the funds into one - the Pell, loans, merit, athletic, talent…all lumped into one refund. One of my kids got her money immediately (they processed it every Wed) refunded through an ACH deposit into a bank account, the other school didn’t process it until after the drop/add date, and then they sent it for refund to Hartland in PA, who then sent a hard check to daughter at her HOME address. The whole process took about 5 weeks. What a pain.
OK, thanks. This won’t be enough to pay his entire bill. If his total bill is $10,000 for the semester, and the Pell Grant is for $3,000, will there be a problem if I pay $10,000? Can he use the $3,000 for living expenses?
You can use the Pell grant for anything you want. He’ll only get the full $3000 is he is full time.
OK, thanks! Yes, he is full time. Five classes.
Yes…he use the Pell for anything…but you need to check when his college does refunds for overpayments. It’s not going to be immediate.
OK, good to know. This is unexpected for him, so he will appreciate the money at any point! He can just see his funds dwindling and knows that he will be in trouble in a year or so.
https://website.aub.edu.lb/faid/intl_std/Pages/index.aspx
He might qualify for Pell with his FAFSA EFC, but according to this link he might not be able to get it at his school (outside of the US).
He should call and find out for sure.
@MaineLonghorn A hundred years ago, I was unable to get a Pell grant as my school was outside the US. This may have changed but I had planned on it and was sorely disappointed. Even at a US based program outside the US, it didn’t work then. I’d call right away.
OK, thanks. The link @mommdc provided makes it clear he can’t get the grant at AUB. He wasn’t expecting it, anyway, so that’s life. I will call to verify, though.
Here you go: https://website.aub.edu.lb/faid/intl_std/Pages/index.aspx .