Calculating Pell Grants

The section discusses how Pell Grants are calculated and includes example calculations.

Note:

The system can award two Pell Grants consecutively by term, First Pell (Pell1) and Second Pell (Pell2), to eligible students in a single aid year. As part of the Pell Eligibility Calculation (PEC), the system determines a student's Maximum (Max) Scheduled Award and uses this value to determine maximum Pell eligibility for the aid year. The system does not consider and does not award Pell2 until the student has been awarded Pell1 in the amount of his or her Max Scheduled Award.

Note:

The system does not attempt to calculate a Pell Grant award for a student who has neither a federal nor an institutional application for the applicable aid year in the system. However, the system does attempt to calculate a Pell Grant award for a student who has an institutional application, but no federal application, for the applicable aid year in the system.

Step 1

The first step for Packaging (Manual Packaging, Auto Packaging, Repackaging, Mass Packaging, or Batch Repackaging) to calculate a student's Pell Grant award is to determine the Pell Eligibility Calculation (PEC) setup values to use. Because PEC setup defaults can be at the program, career, or installation level and can be overridden at the student level, Packaging checks for defaults in the following order to ensure that the proper aid processing rules are used:

  1. Student override values.

  2. Aid processing rule set associated with the student's program.

  3. Aid processing rule set associated with the student's career.

  4. Installation defaults specified on the Financial Aid Defaults page

Once PEC values are detected, the checking for defaults is done and those values are used.

Step 2

The second step is to compare the current (system) date to the term start date (earliest session start date) and the financial aid census date. After identifying the current date in relation to these dates, Packaging uses this date to determine which PEC Pell formula and enrollment values to use (Pell Calculation Start, Pell Calculation Midterm, or Pell Calculation Census).

Step 3

The third step is to determine the percentage of the student’s Max Scheduled Award of Pell Grant award that has been used.

Once the Max Scheduled Award has been established, the system calculates the student's remaining Pell eligibility by using both the student's Percent Scheduled Used and, for the 2013 aid year and beyond, the Lifetime Eligibility Used fields. Both fields are displayed on the Aggregate Aid Data page and are populated by the NSLDS Data Push process. The pushed values can be manually overridden.

Note:

You must regularly push NSLDS data to the Aggregate Tables in order for Packaging to calculate accurately the student's remaining Pell eligibility.

Note:

As of the 2013 aid year, the NSLDS Aggregate Push routine updates the Pell Aggregate Area for the 2013 aid year and beyond with the NSLDS Pell Lifetime Eligibility Used percentage value reported on either a Financial Aid History File or Transfer Student Monitoring data file. Excluded from this value is any current year NSLDS Pell transaction that matches any internally awarded Pell Grants based on school code match. Therefore, to ensure that the most current and accurate Pell Lifetime Eligibility Used value is evaluated, you should regularly load and push NSLDS data sourced from the NSLDS Financial Aid History or Transfer Student Monitoring data file.

To calculate the student's remaining Pell Grant eligibility, the system uses the lower percentage of (a) Lifetime Eligibility Maximum percent minus the student's Lifetime Eligibility Used percent and (b) First Pell Percentage minus the student's Percent Scheduled Used value. The lower of these two percentages is applied to the Max Scheduled Award.

Access the Aggregate Aid Data page (Financial Aid, and then Awards, and then Aggregates, and then Update Incoming Aggregates, and then Aggregate Aid Data).

Note:

For a complete description of the Aggregate Aid Data page: See Managing Aggregate Aid.

Field or Control Description

Percent Scheduled Used and Override

Displays the percentage of a student's Pell Grant Maximum (Max) Scheduled Award used at prior institutions from NSLDS or, if overridden, manually populated by the user. Valid values are 000.0 to 150.0. The field can exceed 100.0 when a student has received the Max Scheduled Award for first Pell Grant (Pell1) plus a partial or Max Scheduled Award for second Pell Grant (Pell2) at prior institutions. Packaging always uses the Percent Scheduled Used as part of its Pell eligibility determination regardless of the designated Aggregate Source (NSLDS or PS).

Select the Override check box and manually enter a value to override Percent Scheduled Used.

Total % Used

Displays the sum of Percent Scheduled Used and the percent of Pell Grant awards already packaged by the system for the aid year. Valid values are 000.0 to 150.0.

Note: The system uses these internal fields (not displayed on any pages) to calculate Total % Used: Max Scheduled Award (full-time, full-year Pell Grant award based on Pell COA and SAI), student's remaining Pell Grant eligibility, and Max Scheduled Award minus the lesser of Lifetime Eligibility Used or Percent Scheduled Used.

Lifetime Eligibility Used and Override

Displays the percentage of a student's Pell Grant received over his or her lifetime as reported from NSLDS or, if overridden, manually populated by the user. Valid values are 0000.0000 to 9999.9999. This field is populated by the Aggregate Push routine.

Select the Override check box and manually enter a value to override.

Lifetime Eligibility Used is evaluated against the corresponding Pell Aggregate Aid Limit, Lifetime Eligibility Maximum Percent setup value as one of the factors when determining a Pell Grant award.

See Setting Up Aggregate Aid.

Note:

Pell Grant eligibility always uses NSLDS aggregate values.

Step 4

The fourth step is to use the identified Pell Grant formula with the appropriate Enrollment Intensity, the student's Maximum Scheduled Award, the appropriate weeks of instruction or Pell Number of Terms, and the student's Total Percent Used (of Pell) to calculate the Pell Grant award term by term.

The Packaging routine repeats this process for each term in the student's academic program, and adds the individual term amounts to determine the student's annual Pell Grant award.

Pell Grant Disbursement Rounding

Financial aid award disbursement amounts, including Pell Grants, are determined in part by the Rounding Option selected in Financial Aid Item Type setup. For complete information on Financial Aid Item Type setup, see Defining Financial Aid Item Types.

If the Financial Aid Item Type Rounding Option attribute equals None, then no rounding takes place, and Pell Grant award disbursement amounts are in U.S. dollars and cents. If the Rounding Option attribute does not equal None, then the following Pell Rounding Rules are applied regardless of the settings of Rounding Option, Round Direction, or Award Remainder Rule.

  • If the number of terms is even, the system alternately rounds term amounts up or down based on how the first term amount is rounded and disregards the decimal amount for all other terms. For example:

    If the first term decimal amount is equal to or greater than $0.50 USD, then the first term amount is rounded up, and all remaining terms follow a rounding treatment of down, up, down, etc. regardless of their decimal amounts.

    If the first term decimal amount is less than $0.50 USD, then the first term amount is rounded down, and all remaining terms follow a rounding treatment of up, down, up, etc. regardless of their decimal amounts.

  • If the number of terms is three, the system rounds to one direction, up or down, for the first two terms, and to the other direction for the third term. Whether the system initially rounds up or down for the first two terms depends on the decimal amount of the first term only; it disregards the decimal amount for the third term and rounds up or down based on the first two terms.

    If the first term decimal amount is equal to or greater than .50 USD, then the first term amount is rounded up, the second term amount is rounded up, and the third term amount is rounded down.

    If the first term decimal amount is less than .50 USD, then the first term amount is rounded down, the second term amount is rounded down, and the third term amount is rounded up.

  • When determining the rounding methodology, the system only includes terms where the scheduled disbursement's decimal amount is greater than zero to determine whether there is an even number of terms or not. In other words, terms with a scheduled disbursement amount ending in whole dollars are not considered part of the term count when assessing terms eligible for rounding.

  • Disbursement protection is not used with Pell Grant awards. The system disregards the disbursement protection attribute of the Financial Aid Item Type setup for Pell Grant item types and always recalculates the Pell Grant award and scheduled disbursements without regard to what has been originated or disbursed.

    If the originated or disbursed amount exceeds the revised calculation by 1.00 USD, the disbursement process takes 1.00 USD back. You should consider a change origination with Common Origination and Disbursement for the recalculated, lesser amount.

    If the originated or disbursed amount is less than the revised calculation by 1.00 USD, the disbursement process disburses an additional 1.00 USD for the term. You should consider a change origination with Common Origination and Disbursement for the recalculated, greater amount.

    If the originated or disbursed amount contained cents and the revised calculation no longer contains cents in order for the total Pell Grant award (sum of all scheduled disbursements) to result in whole dollars, you should do one of these 3 things:

    1. Turn rounding off at the Pell Grant item type level so subsequent disbursements contain cents.

    2. Perform a custom split to reflect cents in subsequent disbursement terms.

    3. Handle cents through professional judgment.

If you choose option 1 and you have already disbursed your Pell amounts with cents, you should consider continuing to award in dollars and cents (Pell Item Type Rounding Option = None) for the duration of the award year.

Pell Grant Point–in–Time Amounts

A Pell Grant can be calculated differently based on the PEC setup and different points in time in relation to the term start date:

  • Before term start date.

  • Mid-term prior to term census date.

  • On or after term census date.

A student attends a semester-based institution, and is an undergraduate in the liberal arts academic program. Neither the student's program nor career have defaults that differ from the installation defaults. The student's annual Pell COA is 5450.00 USD and the primary SAI is 00154; resulting in a Max Scheduled Award of 5,200.00 USD. The Pell Number of Terms is 2, and Enrollment Intensity is 100% for both terms.

The student is first awarded a Pell Grant on March 1, 2024. To calculate the student's Pell Grant amount, the Packaging routine first determines whether PEC setup values exist at the student override level and then the academic program level for the student. After the routine determines that no aid processing rule set is attached to the liberal arts academic program, it checks for career level defaults. Because no aid processing rule set is assigned to the undergraduate career, it uses the installation defaults. The Pell calculation fields on the Financial Aid Defaults page have the following values:

Field Value

Pell Calculation Start

Formula 1 — Full-time

Pell Calculation Midterm

Formula 1 — Full-time

Pell Calculation Census

Formula 1 — FA Load

Packaging compares the current date (March 1, 2009) against the term start date and census date to determine which enrollment value to use when calculating the student's Pell Grant:

Term Term Start Date FA Census Date

Fall

09/17/24

10/20/24

Spring

01/23/25

03/10/25

Because the system date is before the term start date for both semesters, Packaging uses the Pell Calculation Start value for enrollment, Formula 1 Full-time.

This table shows how the student's Pell Grant award changes as you recalculate the student's Pell Grant eligibility at different points in the aid year.

Current Date Pell Calculation Field Used - Fall Pell Calculation Field Used - Spring

03/01/24

Pell Calculation Start

Formula 1 — Full-time

Pell Calculation Start

Formula 1 — Full-time

09/20/24

Pell Calculation Mid-term

Formula 1 — Full-time

Pell Calculation Start

Formula 1 — Full-time

10/25/24

Pell Calculation Census

Formula 1 — FA Load

Pell Calculation Start

Formula 1 — Full-time

01/30/25

Pell Calculation Census

Formula 1 — FA Load

Pell Calculation Start

Formula 1 — Full-time

03/25/25

Pell Calculation Census

Formula 1 — FA Load

Pell Calculation Census

Formula 1 — FA Load

See Defining Pell Eligibility Calculation (PEC) Setup.

Pell Grants for Non-standard Terms and Two Pell Grants in an Aid Year Examples

To support Leading or Trailing Summer terms, the system can package a Pell Grant across both Academic and Non-Standard award periods. You should consider carefully the Disbursement Plan/Split Code being used to award Pell1 and Pell2. The system uses Disbursement Plans to determine for which terms to consider the student's Pell eligibility, but it does not use the Split Code nor Split Code Formulas as part of its distribution spread determination. Instead, the system uses either:

  1. Pell Number of Terms.

  2. Academic plus Non-Standard Base Weeks to determine each term's award amount and how the award is spread across the enrolled terms.

Note:

Although not used for Pell Grant awarding, the system still requires that you specify default Split Code and Split Code Formula values so that the fields are populated. These values are not used to distribute the Pell award into scheduled disbursements.

If your institution intends to award Pell Grants in either the Leading or Trailing Summer, you need to create Disbursement Plans that encompass all terms in which the student may receive a Pell Grant.

Similar to awarding Leading or Trailing Summer terms, if you intend to award a Pell2 award in the succeeding term following a Pell1 award, you should use the same Disbursement Plan/Split Code pattern for both awards. Inherent logic in the system ensures that, based on the Disbursement Plan/Split Code being used, Packaging inserts a Pell2 award in the next available term following a Pell1 award.

The system awards Pell1 and Pell2 in consecutive terms up to the maximum Pell eligibility based on the student's enrollment for that term.

Pell Grant Packaging Error Messages

The following table lists and explains possible Pell Grant Packaging error messages:

Message Number Message Text

9022

PELL -Invalid Title IV eligibility indicator

9023

PELL - Not Title IV eligible

9026

PELL -Invalid NSLDS level

9027

PELL -Student is not an undergraduate, not PELL eligible

9033

PELL -Student has Bachelors degree, not PELL eligible

9136

Student Base Weeks or term count found to be 0 during PELL calculation

9148

PELL award cannot be assigned; there is no matching disbursement for term

9149

Not PELL eligible based on combination PELL Index and PELL COA

9150

Invalid FA Load Code; Must have a value of 'F', 'T', 'H', 'L' or 'N'

9151

Item Type, Term, Aggregate, and/or Plan limits are less than PELL award

9152

PELL Index (Federal SAI) exceeds PELL Index maximum

9161

Student Enrollment Weeks (or terms) total exceeds Base Weeks (or term count).

9183

The student cannot receive Fedearl aid since the SAI status is = 'Z' (Provisional)

9185

Calculated PELL award exceeds aggregate eligibility; award rejected.

9214

Not Pell Eligible: The Student is a Graduate Student

9217

Federal SAI exceeds Pell Maximum

9218

Cannot Award Federal FA Item Types; SAI Status = 'R' Rejected

9234

For 2010, Pell Calculation Start, Midterm and Census date entries are invalid

9236

Not eligible for 2nd Pell award since 1st Pell award was not awarded at 100%

9237

Not eligible for 2nd Pell award; disbursement terms overlap with 1st Pell award

9238

Ineligible for Pell award; Lifetime Eligibility Percentage has been reached.

9239

Pell award has been reduced by student's remaining Lifetime Eligibility.

9405

PELL award reduced by Aggregate limits

9244

Regular Pell Disbursement Schedules have not been loaded into the system for this Aid Year. Therefore, an estimated award is assigned using the previous Aid Year’s Regular Pell Disbursement Schedule.

9249

Alternate Pell Disbursement Schedules have not been loaded into the system for this Aid Year. Therefore, an estimated award is assigned using the previous Aid Year’s Alternate Pell Disbursement Schedule.

9251

No Pell Awarded in Crossover Term.

9253

Not eligible for an Additional Pell due to an ineligible FA Load.

9254

Not eligible for Pell grant due to cumulative load exceeding 100%.