Federal Pell Grants
One of the most important things about college is paying for it. The rising costs of just about everything can make the cost seem prohibitive. However there is help out there in paying for the costs of education. There are many grants, scholarships and loans that can help ease the financial burden.
Grants and scholarships have an advantage over loans because they don’t have to be paid back. While a loan might enable the student to cover more of their expenses, a loan should be the last resort in the financial aid package. One of the grants the student can apply for is the Federal Pell Grant.
There are different ways you can apply for the Federal Pell grant. The easiest by far, is to go the financial aid office of the college you are interested in. There they will be more than happy to help you fill out the form and also submit it. This is a good idea if you are applying for the first time, this application can be complicated if it’s unfamiliar.
A Federal Pell grant does not need to be repaid. If the student leaves school without a degree, or fails to complete their enrollment after receiving their Pell monies, they may be asked to return that money. This is the only way you will ever be asked to pay Pell money back. If a student’s grades and attendance are poor, the school may decide to cancel your Pell disbursement. If this is done, what money hasn’t been spent is returned to the Federal government.
For the academic year, the highest amount available from Pell grants is $5,550 dollars per year. If a student wishes to receive another Pell grant for the year following then they need to reapply. This is simple and often just a formality, as the school already has most of the information required at hand. However if the student does not take the initiative, it isn’t the job of the school to do it for them.
Once it has been decided whether or not the student is eligible for Pell money they can receive that money in a few different ways. Some students have it paid directly to the financial aid office of their school. The financial aid office then applies the grant towards things like tuition, books, lab costs, and other assorted things. If there is any money remaining after that it is often submitted to the student in the form of a check.
Likewise the student can choose to receive their Federal Pell grant themselves. The government will then send a check out to the student, but then it is up to the student to make sure that all these educational expenses are paid, or they may find themselves in an embarrassing situation. Most incoming and first year students are smarter than that.
Until last year a student could receive up to two Pell awards per academic year as long as they were eligible. However this year only one disbursement will be made available due to funding cutbacks. This may strike a bad note with many students, fortunately there are many places a student can go for financial aid.
View some of the “Scholarships for nurses” in your area.
Federal Pell grant eligibility criteria must be followed in order to get the most benefit toward the tuition fees.