What is Year Round Pell Grant?

The bottom line is that it is possible for a Pell Grant student to receive a full time Pell Grant each semester in which he or she is enrolled IF certain conditions are met.

[This is a relatively new federal program as of the 2009-2010 academic year. Prior to this, a Pell Grant recipient was limited to an annual amount which meant that full time students during fall and spring semesters were ineligible for a summer Pell Grant.]

After a student has received the equivalent of two semesters of full time Pell Grant, the student may be eligible for extra Pell Grant during the remaining terms/semesters for the academic year. On BroncoWeb, the extra Pell Grant appears as "Pell Grant 2."

The specific conditions that must be met to be awarded Pell Grant 2 include:

• The student has passed or has the possibility of passing at least 25 credits for the financial aid year, AND
• Is enrolled in 6 or more credits for the term in which they receive Pell Grant 2, AND
• Meets all other financial aid eligibility requirements

Please note that there are also unique consequences associated with Pell Grant 2 when students fall below the conditions above... including:

• May need to repay all of the Pell Grant 2 for the term even if still enrolled

  For example: if a student is enrolled for 6 credits during the spring and is offered $1000 of Pell Grant 2, if the student drops even 1 credit before receiving a "W," they will need to repay all $1000 of Pell Grant 2.

  In comparison: for a semester in which a student receives only Pell Grant 1 of $1000 for 6 credits of enrollment, dropping to 5 credits before receiving a "W" still makes the student eligible for $500 of Pell Grant 1, and will need to repay $500.

Summer term offers more flexibility for students when it comes to the Year Round Pell Grant because it crosses over the official date for the next financial aid year... July 1. As a result, for students who have both the current year's FAFSA and the upcoming year's FAFSA in place, financial aid staff will check both FAFSAs to determine which one provides the greatest amount of Pell Grant during summer.

If the upcoming year's FAFSA provides a greater amount of Pell for summer, than the current year's FAFSA, then

• Pell Grant from the upcoming FAFSA will be awarded to the student for the summer
• The student will likely have the opportunity for Pell Grant 2 during following spring semester
• The specific conditions for Pell Grant 2 (as listed above) will need to be met

Posted: 10.20.2010

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Explanation of How the 25 Credits are Calculated

Student has passed or has the possibility of passing at least 25 credits for the term in which they may be awarded Pell Grant 2. This includes developmental and/or transfer credits.

Example 1

Term 1 Credits Passed + Term 2 Credits Passed + Term 3 Credits Enrolled > 25 credits

• Fall semester 2010 credits passed + spring semester 2011 credits passed + summer 2011 credits enrolled > 25 credits OR
• Summer 2010 credits passed + fall semester2010 credits passed + spring semester 2011 credits enrolled > 25 credits

Example 2

Term 1 Credits Passed + Term 2 Credits Passed + Term 3 Credits Passed + Term 4 Credits Enrolled > 25 credits

• Summer 2010 credits passed + fall semester 2010 credits passed + spring semester 2011 credits passed + summer 2011 credits enrolled > 25 credits

Posted: 10.15.2010