<p>I received my financial aid award letter for UIC. (Erm.. first off, does this mean I'm accepted? Lol) Anyway, it says I receive some $ from Pell Grant, Map Grant, and UIC Access to Excellence Grant. This is great but I thought I was eligible for the SMART grant as well. The following requirements are...</p>
<p>*be eligible to receive a Pell Grant;
Yes..
*be enrolled least half time in their third or fourth academic year of a four-year degree program;
Yes..
*maintain a 3.0 grade point average in college;
3.6
*be a U.S. citizen or eligible non-citizen;
Yes...
*pursue a degree in mathematics, science, technology, engineering or a critical foreign language.
I wasn't sure about this one at first because my major is Psychology. But then I looked at this following list and see that Psychology is on there.</p>
<p>Is that site not reputable? Does Psychology not count? I don't understand why else I didn't receive it. I still have to pay a good chunk of my initial costs after the other grants I received so it's not like they covered everything. Thanks</p>
<p>Oh, or could it be that I haven't registered for classes so they don't know for sure that I am taking at least one Psychology class? That thought just popped into my head right now.</p>
<p>Like ACG, SMART grants probably do not show up on your FA award until the school has verified your credits, major, and gpa. If you are eligible they will revise your award. You can always email FA and get an idea of how long that may take. Btw, I believe next year will probably be the last of the SMART grant awards…something about ACG and SMART being underutilized :(</p>
<p>Isn’t a SMART grant only available in years 3 & 4 of university? Are you a rising college junior or senior?</p>
<p>Also, ACG often times is not awarded until they have taken more time to review your details, SMART may be the same, as the are highly complex to administer.</p>
<p>sk8trmom - i have also heard the SMART and ACG are scheduled to finish after the 2010-2011 school year. I thought they were always scheduled to sunset after 2010-2011. I have not heard of any possible change in those plans. </p>
<p>My daughter got the SMART this year and for next year. it is certainly nice to have!!</p>
<p>I read an article recently on a federal website that said they are not planning to renew the program because “only” X millions of students had ever qualified for ACG and SMART. Can’t remember the number exactly, but it may have been right around 1-1.5 million. The awards amounted to only half of the funding available, so apparently it’s an under-utilized and superfluous program…not! I’m sure those X millions really appreciated that extra funding - I know mine did! The requirement to keep a certain gpa was, I thought, good incentive.</p>
<p>Many schools will not list a SMART grant on your award letter, as this award requires manual monitoring of several different criteria. In addition, psych is generally not a SMART-eligible major … the key is the CIP code. YOUR psych major at YOUR school will have a particular CIP code, which is determined by specific criteria & is done by your Dean’s office based on the requirements of that degree at your school. If it is not a CIP on the list, it will absolutely not be SMART-eligible (non-negotiable).</p>
<p>Try putting SMART in the search box on your school’s website and email Admissions for your status. It would be odd for FA to spend time preparing awards for all applicants, but they’re separate departments so errors can happen.</p>
<p>It is a shame they are closing out these programs, based on under-utilisation. Why not instead fix the ACG requirements so they are not so tough to administer and promote them more. SMART is a fantastic award to receive, $4000 in each of two years. </p>
<p>I do not understand the reasoning in canceling it, I mean if it was a good idea, then promote it and encourage more people into the sciences with high grades???!!</p>
<p>So basically only half of the funds set aside for this program is being used, did I understand that correctly? Sounds like there’s too much red tap. Did everybody who was eligible get this over the past few years? Or only a certain amount? 1-1.5 million is A LOT of students. I plan on majoring in engineering and I was looking forward to being offered this my 3rd, 4th, or even 5th years. Perhaps something will replace it.</p>
<p>The only psych major that counts is biopsych 30.1001.</p>
<p>ACG & SMART are being phased out in order to maximize resources. Available aid funds are being directed toward expanding Pell funding, as that benefits all low income students. It’s the clear trend in financial aid (which is all mandated by Congress, folks … our elected leaders … NOT financial aid people, so don’t yell at us :)).</p>
<p>I do think the administrative burden for ACG and SMART may have also contributed to the demise. The feds seem to be all about streamlining FA these days, which makes sense given the numbers. Also, they just laid the new admin nightmare on all the hardworking FA folks in the form of authorizing year round Pell grants! Though it does seem that, with grad rates for Pell recipients the way they are, a bit more funding should go toward encouraging them to perform to higher standards.</p>
<p>I do think the administrative burden for ACG and SMART may have also contributed to the demise.</p>
<hr>
<p>Truly, truly … you made my day … I almost fell off my chair, I laughed so hard. No, the burden is absolutely NOT a consideration for Congress. The new Pell regulations are proof positive that they have no clue whatsoever about what is involved.</p>
<p>Just google trends in financial aid & look at any professional organization discussions/presentations. The trend is toward Pell only, and no subsidies on loans. It is not to actually make things easier on aid offices. It is to maximize resources for an ever-expanding pool of students. And the cap on Pell at 18 semesters is Congress’s attempt to encourage higher standards of performance. We shall see …</p>