<p>Is the amount I receive in federal grants supposed to be the same for every college? USC's estimated federal pell grant to me is 1,700 while Notre Dame's is 2,900. Is it the college that decides how much federal money I get?? :0</p>
<p>Yeah. The govt doesn’t control the amount of loans you get. Each school does.</p>
<p>long, do you mean grants, or loans? I hope USC’s not ripping me off here…</p>
<p>Oh sorry I wasn’t reading carefully. That is definitely strange. I know pell grants differ from UC’s to USC (mine are 5700 UC, 9700 USC), but I would have thought that privates are the same, assuming the costs of USC and Notre Dame are similar. </p>
<p>I wouldn’t think USC is ripping you off though. Here’s what the site says:
[Federal</a> Pell Grant Program](<a href=“http://www.ed.gov/programs/fpg/index.html]Federal”>http://www.ed.gov/programs/fpg/index.html)</p>
<p>Grant amounts are dependent on: the student’s expected family contribution (EFC) (see below); the cost of attendance (as determined by the institution); the student’s enrollment status (full-time or part-time); and whether the student attends for a full academic year or less. </p>
<p>Maybe your costs are 1.2k more at Notre Dame?</p>
<p>Actually the total cost for ND is 2.4k less than USC 
The SEO Grant is also $700 at USC and $3000 at ND >:0 In another post someone said that the Pell should be the same among institutions with equal-ish costs. </p>
<p>I think I’ll call to see what’s up.</p>
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<p>That is impossible. The maximum Pell grant possible for the 2009-2010 school year us $5350. It is not possible to get 5700 or 9700 in Pell grants. You must be looking at some other grant other than the Pell grant or adding another grant to it. And the Pell should *not *vary from school to school. The absolute maximum Pell is $5350 for which you need an EFC of 0. </p>
<p>bamboosoul – the Pell grant is based on the EFC and should not vary from school to school. What is your EFC? Is your EFC between 2401-2500? Based on 2009-2010 tables your Pell would be $2900 if your EFC is between 2401-2500. A Pell of $1700 would be for an EFC of 3601-3700. </p>
<p>I responded to you other post on the financial aid forum. The Pell is not similar at schools with similar costs. It is the same at any school whatever the cost. The maximum Pell at a school costing $10,000 a year is $5350 (for someone with a 0 EFC). The maximum Pell at a school costing $50,000 is still $5350 (for someone with a 0 EFC).</p>
<p>My mistake again, that was cal grant A. Yeah, my pell grant is 5350. Still, it is only an estimate, so there is probably an error somewhere.</p>
<p>Thanks, swimcats. I actually have an efc around 5.6k. (I guess I got lucky with fed. grants) But still, this difference in federal grants is huge.</p>
<p>hey bamboosoul, if you dont mind me askin, how much did u get from usc? was your efc the same for both schools? you dont have to answer if you dont want to.</p>
<p>I got around 35000 in usc grants and around 3000 total in federal grants. 8k in loans + workstudy.</p>
<p>hey is there like a deadline for when we have to accept stafford loans and choose lenders?</p>