Summer Federal Pell Grant

The Federal Pell Grant may be available year-round for undergraduate students who have not earned a bachelor's degree. Please note that some students may be required to enroll at least half-time in degree-pursuant courses to receive the Pell Grant for summer.

Federal Pell Grants for Summer

During the summer semester, students eligible for the Pell Grant may receive up to 150% of their scheduled award each year, but what exactly does that mean? If a student is eligible for the Pell during the fall and/or spring semesters, they may qualify for Pell Grant for summer as well! Here is an example:

Jane, a Pell eligible student, was enrolled full-time during fall and full-time during spring, so she received $2500 for fall and $2500 for spring in Pell Grant. Under the 150% eligibility, Jane could receive up to another $2500 for summer (depending on enrollment). If she enrolls full-time in degree-pursuant courses, she could receive the full $2500. If she enrolls half-time in degree-pursuant courses, she could receive half of that amount ($1250).

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Eligibility

To be eligible for summer Pell, students must:

• Have completed a 2024-2025 Free Application for Federal Student Aid (for summer 2025 consideration). Submit your 2025-2026 FAFSA for maximum eligibility consideration for the summer semester.
• Be eligible for the Federal Pell Grant
• Be meeting satisfactory academic progress standards for financial aid eligibility
• Enroll in summer classes - in most cases students must enroll at least half-time in degree-pursuant courses
• Have remaining Pell Grant eligibility (i.e. have not used their Pell Lifetime Eligibility they can receive over the course of their time in undergraduate education)

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Important Things to Keep in Mind

• If a student has unsatisfied requirements for financial aid eligibility on the 2024-2025 or 2025-2026 financial aid year, they may need to satisfy those requirements before their Pell Grant eligibility can be determined.
• Usually the Pell Grant alone is not enough to cover the full cost of attendance for summer, so students should consider other potential summer aid and options such as paying the remainder out-of-pocket, the tuition payment plan, and/or loans to cover summer expenses.
• Many students use their full loan eligibility for the aid year during the fall and spring semesters. This means they do not have remaining subsidized and/or unsubsidized loans to help with summer expenses. Please visit our summer financial aid webpage for annual loan limits.
• The maximum amount of time a student can receive the Federal Pell Grant (prior to achieving a bachelor's degree) is known as their "Lifetime Eligibility." Students can receive the grant for up to the equivalent of twelve full-time semesters. Receiving Pell for attending one semester at full-time status means a student uses 50% of their Pell Lifetime Eligibility. Twelve full-time semesters equal a 600% maximum. If a student attends half-time, then that utilizes 25% of their 600% eligibility.
• If a student completes the credits required for their bachelor's degree, they are no longer eligible for the Federal Pell Grant.

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Monitor Remaining "Lifetime Eligibility" for Pell

Students can monitor their lifetime eligibility used by logging in to the Federal Student Aid website using their Federal Student Aid ID (FSA ID). This is the same username and password students use to submit the FAFSA. Students can review how much of their overall Pell eligibility they have used - their "lifetime eligibility" - after they log in to the Federal Student Aid website by looking at the "MyAid" section of the Dashboard, clicking on View Details, then clicking on the "Grants" tab.

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How Enrollment Impacts Pell Amounts

Pell Grant eligibility is based in part on the courses in which students begin attendance. Prior to the first course a student attends for a semester, eligibility could also be impacted by:

• Adding additional courses that increase enrollment status;
• Dropping courses that decrease their enrollment status;
• Adjustments to cost of attendance (COA). COA is determined by a variety of factors, but in summer, it is particularly impacted by changes in enrollment – both the amount of hours and how long the courses go throughout the summer (which impacts how many weeks of living expenses can be budgeted in the cost). If those are reduced, aid may need adjusted because aid cannot exceed cost.

Pell Grant eligibility for the semester will be calculated based on the classes the student has begun attending by the first add/drop date that applies to the student’s enrollment. After this add/drop period, the Pell Grant may be reduced if a student does not begin attendance in their registered coursework, partially withdraws from coursework, or fully withdraws from the semester.

Pell Grant Amount Based on Enrollment Intensity

Enrollment intensity is the percentage of full-time enrollment in degree-pursuant courses at the time of disbursement that a student is enrolled in. For example, full-time enrollment for financial aid purposes is based on 12 credit hours. If a student is enrolled in 6 degree-pursuant credit hours, the enrollment intensity would be 6 divided by 12 x 100% = 50%.

The Pell Grant amount can be impacted if enrollment changes, even if the enrollment changes after the grant disburses.

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Dropping, Withdrawing, or Failing Classes

If you do not complete the classes that you are registered for during summer, you may owe money back for all or part of your Federal Pell Grant if it has disbursed. Financial aid is disbursed in good faith based on anticipated completion of the courses. If students do not earn credits for those courses due to dropping, withdrawing, or failing, they may have to repay aid funds. The amount that must be returned will be calculated based on the drop date, the number of credits, and the last day that you attended class.

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