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Federal Pell Grant

Federal Pell Grant

Students must annually complete the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) to apply for all federal financial aid programs. This includes the Federal Pell Grant Program.

Annual Maximum Awards

  • For the 2010-11 award year (July 1, 2010 to June 30, 2011), the maximum scheduled Federal Pell Grant award is $5,550 for undergraduate students enrolled on a full-time basis.

    • The maximum amount can change each award year and depends on program funding. The amount you get, though, will depend not only on your financial need, but also on your costs to attend school, your status as a full-time or part-time student, and your plans to attend school for a full academic year or less.

  • For the 2011-12 award year (July 1, 2011 to June 30, 2012), the maximum scheduled Federal Pell Grant award is $5,550 for students enrolled on a full-time basis.

  • Effective July 1, 2009 students enrolled in a certificate, associate, or baccalaureate program may receive up to two Federal Pell Grants in one award year to accelerate their program.

Key concepts and definitions

The first critical concept revolves around the definition of an academic year.

For purposes of federal financial aid programs at McNeese State University, an academic year is a period of time (normally a minimum of 30 weeks for fall and spring semesters) during which a full-time undergraduate student is expected to complete a minimum of 24 credit hours.

Annual grant limits are tied to the completion of an academic year.

Award year refers to the specific enrollment period. The "normal" award year at McNeese is the fall and spring semesters. Award years run from July 1 to June 30.

A "Cross -Over Payment Period" is any period that includes both June 30th and July 1st. For the purposes of federal financial aid programs, this period must be assigned to a specific financial aid award year. These years begin each July 1.

New Policies

Eligibility Limit and Disbursement

  • Students who receive their first Federal Pell Grant on or after July 1, 2008 may receive Federal Pell Grants for as many as 18 semesters (or the equivalent)

  • Effective July 1, 2009 students enrolled in a certificate, associate, or baccalaureate program may receive up to two Federal Pell Grants in one award year to accelerate their program.

For the Summer 2011 Semester:

McNeese offers a number of summer sessions of differing lengths in an effort to be responsive to the needs of the student body. For the purposes of the federal Federal Pell Grant program, the separate sessions are combined into one summer semester. The Office of Financial Aid will begin accepting applications for aid for Summer 2011 tuition and fee expenses on February 1, 2011.

To maximize your aid eligibility for the 2011 summer semester:

  • All students interested in receiving federal financial aid for the 2011 summer semester should promptly complete BOTH the 2010-2011 and the 2011-2012 Free Application for Federal Student Aid ("FAFSA").

  • Your initial aid eligibility will be calculated based on full-time enrollment (12 or more hours) AND the information on your 2010-2011 FAFSA. Once your 2011-12 FAFSA has been completed, then we will review it for additional summer pell grant eligibility. The 2011-12 FAFSA application must be completed prior to the completion of the summer semester.

  • The FAFSA application that provides the most eligibility for Pell Grant funding will be the form used when awarding.

To receive Two Pells in One Year:

If eligible, a student will be able to receive all or a portion of a second scheduled Federal Pell Grant within an award year

  • For the First Scheduled Federal Pell Grant Award, a student must:

    • Be Federal Pell Grant eligible;
    • Be enrolled at any enrollment status (full-time, 3/4 time, 1/2 time or less than 1/2 time);
    • The amounts received will count toward the aggregate lifetime limit.

  • To Qualify to Receive a Second Scheduled Award within the same award year, a student must:

    • Continue to be Federal Pell Grant eligible;
    • Meet Academic Year Acceleration (defined below);
    • Meet Satisfactory Academic Progress at the end of each semester;
    • Have received 100% of the First Scheduled Federal Pell Grant Award;
    • Be enrolled on at least a half-time basis (six hours for Summer 2011 and thereafter);
    • The amounts received will count toward the aggregate lifetime limit.

Starting with the 2010-2011 Award Year, the student must demonstrate academic year acceleration.

  • At least one credit hour in the payment period when the award will be made from a Second Scheduled Award must be attributable to the student's next academic year.

    • The student need not have completed a full academic year's worth of coursework prior to the payment period in which the second scheduled award funds are paid. For example, a student earned 9 credits in the fall semester and 9 credits in the spring semester. Since McNeese uses 24 credits to define the academic year and places summer in the concluding award year, the student would need to enroll for more than 6 credits in the summer term to be paid funds out of the second scheduled award (6 credits to finish the first academic year's worth of work, plus some additional number of credits that count toward the second academic year). This student would be paid any remaining first scheduled award funds plus the amount of second scheduled award funds needed to make up the payment for the term as calculated under the appropriate Pell formula.

  • Hours earned during the summer semester will count towards the acceleration calculation in all subsequent semesters.

  • Hours earned from Advanced Placement, International Baccalaureate, Testing Out, Life Experience, etc may not count as hours earned for completion of an academic year.

Transfer Students

  • If a student received 100% of the first Scheduled Award at their prior school, we will assume that the student completed an academic year.

  • If a student received less than 100% of their first Scheduled Award, we will assume that the student completed the same ratio of the academic year (24 credit hours at McNeese) as the percentage of the first Scheduled Award utilized at the prior school.

Special Circumstances:

The Academic Year completion requirement can be waived if a financial aid administrator determines that the student was unable to complete the hours of the first academic year due to special circumstances beyond the student's control.

Special Circumstances Beyond a Student's Control may include, but are not limited to:

  • Student withdrawing from classes due to documented illness;
  • Student being unable to register for classes necessary to complete his or her program because the classes were not offered at any time during that academic year.

Special Circumstances Beyond a Student's Control does not include withdrawing to avoid a particular grade or failing to register for a necessary class to avoid a particular instructor.

Special Adjustments for children of deceased service members

The Higher Education Opportunity Act of 2008 grants an automatic zero EFC for the Federal Pell Grant Program ONLY toFederal Pell Grant eligible students whose parent or guardian was a member of the Armed Forces and died in Iraq or Afghanistan after September 11, 2001.