Annual & Aggregate Pell Limits

Annual & Aggregate Pell Limits

The Department of Education limits the amount of Pell grants you are awarded each FAFSA year (July 1st-June 30th) and over the course of a lifetime. 

Each year, the FAFSA application will determine if you are eligible for a Pell grant and, if so, how much. If you are an eligible Full Time, undergraduate student, you will receive Pell disbursements in the first four (4) terms in the academic year in which you take at least 6-credits. Once you've received 100% of your Pell for the FAFSA year, you may be able to receive additional funds in the following Trimester as long as you attend at least half time (6 credits/trimester). If you attend attend half time throughout the entire year, you will see partial Pell availability throughout the FAFSA year.

Pell is also limited over the course of your lifetime. As long as you remain eligible each year based on the FAFSA Application, you are allowed to receive up to 600% of your Pell Grant in your lifetime. So, assuming you use 150% each calendar year, you may be eligible to receive the Pell grant for 4 years. If you do not use all of your Pell grant eligibility in a given year, only a percentage of that year’s eligibility will be subtracted from the 600% total.