Oh, I see now. You are referring to someone’s older post, not the post I just posted.
You do this for a living, kelsmom, so I will defer to you. But if you can show me where on the table that I linked to a Pell award exceeds the difference between EFC and COA by more than $100, it will help me better understand what you are trying to explain. The table covers a wide range of school COAs - from $0 all the way up to $999,999.
Look at the Pell chart and consider COA realistically. Schools base their COA not on individual circumstances, but rather on an average. Even if there is a separate COA for a less-than-full-time student, the chances of a COA being as low as some of the COA’s on that Pell chart is pretty darn unrealistic. Full Pell payments begin at a COA of $3,000/year. Since COA includes more than just tuition, it’s a pretty safe bet that for most, the fact that technically speaking, Pell + EFC is not going to exceed COA is a moot point. Not worth even muddying the waters with a discussion … but likely to be confusing in that while other need-based aid must be reduced when the combination of Pell, EFC, non-need-based aid, and non-Pell-need-based aid exceeds COA, Pell (which is need based) is not reduced when the combination of Pell, EFC and non-need based aid exceeds COA. Confused yet? 
Is the COA shown in the program chart just the school’s published tuition COA, or does is include other costs, such as mandatory fees and room and board? COA for direct costs is not an average; schools know what they will charge in any given year for specific direct costs. Indirect costs will be an average/best guess, but I doubt that Pell is supposed to cover these expenses. If by “full Pell” you mean the maximum amount that can be awarded in 2015, the chart only shows that happening when the COA is $5,775 or greater (with an EFC of $0).