Concerning the Pell Grant

Question

I will be attending Ivy Tech Community College in Indianapolis, IN for one semester (August 26- January) and then transferring Indiana University Purdue University Indianapolis (IUPUI) in May. I just got back my financial aid status from Ivy Tech and I it says I can get the Federal Pell Grant for $4,731.00. Now I know that is for two semesters, so here is my question.

Do I:

1. Use half for the Ivy Tech semester and the other half for my first semester at IUPUI

2. Use half for Ivy Tech and apply for a whole new one next year for IUPUI.

3, Get to use it all this year and get a new one next year.

I really don't know how this financial aid stuff works, so thanks for your help.

Answer 1

You will definitely ONLY get half for this semester. I don't really know how much you'll get when you transfer, but I assume you'll just get the other half.

Answer 2

Pell grant is determined by your schools cost of attendance, so that amount is based on Ivy Tech's amount to attend. You will only get 1/2 for this semester. You may want to call your other school and ask about financial aid for transferring students.

Answer 3

You will get half ($2,365.50) at Ivy Tech if you attend full time and get the other half at Indiana if you go full time.  You will reapply for fin aid in Feb/March 2009 (when you do your 08 taxes) for next SCHOOL year (fall 2009 - spring 2010).  Be sure Indiana's federal school code is on your fafsa application and they know you are coming in spring.

Answer 4

I forget if the pell grant is only good for one year....I think I had it longer than a year.   You have to stay qualified for it (3.5 or higher GPA for every semester, not just cumulative) in order to keep it, so it is not just a one year grant!  YAY!  Stay qualified and you can keep it for up to 4 years, I believe.

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