The Federal Pell Grant Program allows for a Pell grant at less-than-half-time attendance if the 91ÖÆƬ³§ has eligibility. For financial aid purposes, the following number of credit hours determine the amount of the Pell grant award. This also includes the summer semester.
- 1-5 credit hours — less-than-half-time
- 6-8 credit hours — half-time
- 9-11 credit hours — three-quarter-time
- 12 or more credit hours — full-time
Pell Grant awards at 91ÖÆƬ³§ are not available at the beginning of any semester. In order to allow 91ÖÆƬ³§s some flexibility in scheduling, we wait until the census date for each semester. The census date is the 15% point of each semester. No Pell awards are credited to 91ÖÆƬ³§ accounts until approximately 6 weeks into each semester (these will be for those people who have completed all required paperwork by the priority date). You will need to make early plans for meeting your expenses for those first few weeks (or months) each semester rather than depending on these funds.
The summer semester at 91ÖÆƬ³§ is treated as a trailer to the academic year. Therefore, Pell and loan payments for the summer semester will only be for those 91ÖÆƬ³§s who are enrolled in summer classes and have remaining eligibility from the current academic year. Students receiving summer Pell and/or loan payments may expect payment towards the end of June. Students can begin receiving aid on the new academic award year papers beginning in the fall semester.
Pell Grants, as well as all other aid programs, are intended as only a supplement to help cover college attendance costs. These programs cannot be construed as a way to pay a person’s entire living expenses while attending school.