Federal Pell Grants

Federal Pell Grant funds are not required to be repaid and are awarded to undergraduate students who have not earned a bachelor’s or professional degree. Eligibility for the Federal Pell Grant is partially determined by the number of credit hours in which the student is enrolled during the semester and the Student Aid Index (SAI). South Texas College will mail award notifications showing student eligibility for Federal Pell Grant funds assuming that the students will take at least 12 credit hours per semester.

The Student Financial Services Office adjusts the amount of Pell Grant that students receive if the number of credit hours they are enrolled in, changes through the census date of each semester or term.

For more information on eligibility requirements please refer to the sections that follow, on the award notifications, and on South Texas College’s website at: http://studentservices.southtexascollege.edu/finaid/.

Award Amounts

Awards are partially based on your Student Aid Index (SAI) as determined by the FAFSA and by a student’s number of credit hours. How much you may receive will depend on your SAI, your cost of attendance, number of credit hours enrolled, and whether you attend school for a full academic year. You may only receive Pell Grant funds from one institution at a time.

Eligibility Determination

To determine if you are eligible, the U.S. Department of Education uses formulas to evaluate the information you report when you apply through the Free Application of Federal Student Aid (FAFSA). The formulas produce a Student Aid Index (SAI) number. The lower the SAI number, the more aid the student is eligible for. Your Institutional Student Information Record (ISIR) contains this number and will tell you if you are eligible.

To be considered for Pell Grant Eligibility, you must:

Fill out a Free Application for Federal Student Aid,
Meet all Department of Education eligibility requirements including but not limited to:
Having a high school diploma or a General Education Development (GED) Certificate,
Being a U.S. citizen or eligible non-citizen,
Having a valid Social Security Number,
Be enrolled or accepted for enrollment as a regular student working toward a degree or certificate in an eligible program,
Meet the standards of the Financial Aid Satisfactory Academic Progress Policy (FA SAP).

Additional Requirements

South Texas College Student Financial Services Office monitors requirements that can affect your eligibility for Federal Pell Grant funds, including but not limited to:

Your continued enrollment within a semester: if you withdraw/are withdrawn, you may be required to repay funds awarded to you. More information on this can be found at http://studentservices.southtexascollege.edu/finaid/withdrawals.html
Your grades: if you do not earn at least one passing grade in a semester, you may be required to repay funds awarded to you. More information can be found at http://studentservices.southtexascollege.edu/finaid/fail.html
Developmental courses you attempt: we may only fund 30 credit hours of developmental work over a student’s educational career. If a Pell eligible student attempts their 11th or greater developmental course, that course cannot be counted in the students’ enrollment status. See https://studentservices.southtexascollege.edu/finaid/developmental.html
Repeated Coursework: Beginning July 1, 2011, the definition of a full-time student was amended to allow repeated coursework to count toward enrollment status in term-based programs. See https://studentservices.southtexascollege.edu/finaid/repeat_coursework.html
Lifetime Eligibility Used: Effective July 1, 2012 students may only receive a Pell Grant for six years of full-time enrollment (equivalent to 12 semesters or 600%) during their lifetime. This change affects all students regardless of when or where they received their first Pell Grant. The maximum amount of Pell Grant funding that a student may receive each year is equal to 100% or 150% if eligible for Year Round Pell. See https://studentservices.southtexascollege.edu/finaid/lifetime_eligibility_used.html
Unusual Enrollment History: Beginning award year 2013-2014 and forward, new regulations have been established to prevent fraud and abuse in the Federal Pell Grant and/or Direct Loan Programs by identifying students with unusual enrollment histories. The Student Financial Services Department is required to review the student’s enrollment and financial aid record to determine if, during the past four award years the student has had legitimate reasons for the unusual enrollment history. See https://studentservices.southtexascollege.edu/finaid/unusual_enrollment_history.html

Attendance Verification

The U.S. Department of Education requires that schools are able to document that students are actually in attendance to finalize their Federal Pell Grant eligibility. For example, if a student doesn’t begin attendance in all of his or her classes, the school must recalculate the student’s award based on the lower enrollment status. A student is considered to have begun attendance in all of his or her classes if the student attends at least one day of class for each course in which that student’s enrollment status was determined for Federal Pell Grant eligibility.

In a distance education context, documenting that a student has logged into an online class is not sufficient, by itself, to demonstrate academic attendance by the student. A school must demonstrate that a student participated in class or was otherwise engaged in an academically related activity, such as by contributing to an online discussion or initiating contact with a faculty member to ask a course-related question. A definition of attendance for Financial Aid Purposes can be found at https://studentservices.southtexascollege.edu/finaid/attendance_definition.html.

South Texas College documents attendance for Federal Pell Grant purposes by collecting on-line rosters from all instructors. The instructors use the rosters to indicate whether a student has attended or not. Students must attend each class that they are enrolled in, at least once at the beginning of each term to be counted as being in attendance in that class for Federal Pell Grant eligibility purposes.

In cases where students do not attend class at least once, Federal Pell Grant eligibility will be adjusted based on the enrollment status for the number of credits that they are actually attending. If this adjustment results in a student not having sufficient grant funds to pay for any charges or advances that they have incurred or received, that student will be responsible to pay South Texas College for the difference between their adjusted eligibility and the original amount of the cost of their tuition and fees as well as any advances that the student received.

Fund Disbursements

South Texas College will credit Pell Grant funds to your school account to pay for tuition, fees and other school related costs which appear on your student account (institutional charges). If you are eligible for funds in excess of your institutional charges, after completing eligibility verification, South Texas College will pay you the difference directly by: a)mailing you a check, or b)depositing into your personal bank account. Book allowance and final refund release dates are provided to students before the start of each semester; they are published at http://studentservices.southtexascollege.edu/finaid/book_allowances.html.

Declining Pell Grant Funds

You may decline all or part of your disbursement of Pell Grant funds that you are otherwise eligible to receive. You may wish to take this action if you expect to qualify for a larger Pell Grant in future years as a result of an expected transfer to a more expensive educational institution or an expected change in your Student Aid Index (SAI). If you are going to return all or a portion of Pell Grant funds, you must deliver to our Student Financial Services Department a signed, written statement clearly indicating that you are declining Pell Grant funds for which you are otherwise eligible and that you understand that those funds may not be available once the award year is over.

Returning Pell Grant Funds

You may return all or a portion of Pell Grant funds that you are otherwise eligible to receive, as long as this action is taken during the same award year. You must deliver to our Student Financial Services Department a signed, written statement clearly indicating that you are returning Pell Grant funds for which you are otherwise eligible and that you understand that those funds may not be available once the award year is over. After the statement is submitted, you will then need to return the funds directly to the STC Cashiers Office.

Year Round Pell

Pell Grant eligible students can receive up to 150% of their scheduled Pell award each year. What does this mean? If student received full Pell Grant amount, for example, in Fall 2024 and Spring 2025 semesters, he/she may qualify for Pell Grant in Summer 2025, from the next award year. This is referred to as Year Round Pell (YRP).

Eligibility

To be eligible for a summer Year Round Pell, student must:

Have completed Financial Aid File for current Award Year
Be Pell Grant eligible
Be meeting Financial Aid Satisfactory Academic Progress
Have lifetime Pell Grant eligibility remaining; students can check this at https://studentaid.gov/ using their FSA ID credentials to log in.

Year Round Pell vs Summer Pell Grant Remainder

Year Round Pell: If student registered full-time and received full-time Pell Grant in fall and spring, student must register in summer to receive Year Round Pell Grant.
Pell Grant Remainder: If student registered part-time in fall and/or spring, student can use the remainder of his/her current award year Pell Grant amount, assuming student meets Pell SAI and other eligibility requirements OR
Combination: If student registered part-time in fall or spring, student can receive a combination of the Pell remainder amount of current award year and Year Round Pell, up to a semester’s worth of the Pell Grant award for the term, but student must meet eligibility requirements discussed above.

Most Beneficial

Also, if student applies for financial aid for next award year and is eligible for a higher amount of Pell Grant, (lower SAI), and completes his/her next award year financial aid file and meets all eligibility requirements, student will receive the Pell Grant award that is most beneficial, that is, the one with a lower SAI.

YRP Example

A student with a negative Student Aid Index (SAI) or a SAI of 0, is eligible for $5000 in Pell Grant for the year, or $2500 for the Fall 2024 semester and 2500 for the Spring 2025 semester.

Assuming student went full-time in fall and spring, under YRP rules, this student could potentially receive an additional $2500 for the Summer 2025, if registered 12 credit hours.

If the same student registered 6 credit hours instead of 12, in the Summer 2025, the student would receive a $1250 Pell Grant award.

Federal Pell Grant Under the Special Rule in HEA Section 401(c)

Special Rule Eligibility formerly known as Iraq and Afghanistan Service Grants and Children of Fallen Heroes Scholarship Act

Beginning with the 2024-2025 award year, students who meet the eligibility requirements for Pell Grants under the Special Rule in HEA Section 401(c), formerly known as the Iraq and Afghanistan Service Grants and Children of Fallen Heroes Scholarship Act, will receive Max Pell, regardless of their calculated SAI.

Year Round Pell

The Year Round Pell requirement also applies to the students with the Federal Pell Grant under the Special Rule. If you received a full Federal Pell Grant in Fall 2024 and also in Spring 2025, you may qualify for the Federal Pell Grant in Summer 2025, from the next award year. The same Year Round Pell Eligibility requirements apply as outlined in the Federal Pell Grant section of the catalog.

Award Amounts

Awards are based on a zero SAI (maximum Federal Pell Grant award), and credit hours registered. Student may only receive these award funds from one institution at a time.

Eligibility Determination

To receive a Pell Grant based on eligibility under the Special rule, a student must be:

The child of a parent or guardian who died in the line of duty while (a) service on active duty as a member of the Armed Forces on or after September 11, 2001; or (b) actively serving as and performing the duties of a public safety officer; and
Less than 33 years old as of the January 1 prior to the award year for which the applicant is applying (e.g., for the 2024-25 award year, a student must be less than 33 years old as of January 1, 2024, to be eligible).

Students will self-identify potential eligibility on the FAFSA and the school will be required to verify eligibility by collecting supporting documentation from the student. Schools will report Special Rule eligibility to the Department of Education, to generate an ISIR transaction reflecting the student's eligibility. Schools will award eligible students Max Pell, regardless of SAI.

Students who were eligible for and received Iraq and Afghanistan Service Grant (IASG) funds OR received Pell Grant funds based on IASG or Children of Fallen Heroes (CFH) eligibility criteria for the 2023-24 award year but are not eligible for Pell Grant funds under the Special Rule beginning with the 2024-25 award year, are eligible to receive Pell Grant funds based on prior IASG or CFH eligibility criteria.

In addition to the above, the student must:

Meet all Department of Education eligibility requirements including but not limited to:
Having a high school diploma or a General Education Development (GED) Certificate,
Being a U.S. citizen or eligible non-citizen,
Having a valid Social Security Number,
Be enrolled or accepted for enrollment as a regular student working toward a degree or certificate in an eligible program and
Meet the standards of the Financial Aid Satisfactory Academic Progress Policy (FA SAP).

Additional Requirements

South Texas College Student Financial Services Office monitors the same requirements for students under the Special Rule as with students under the Pell Grant.

Fund Disbursements

South Texas College will credit the Pell Grant funds under the Special Rule eligibility, to your school account to pay for tuition, fees and other school related costs which appear on your student account (institutional charges). If you are eligible for funds in excess of your institutional charges, after completing eligibility verification South Texas College will pay you the difference directly, by mailing you a check. These grant funds will be released to you in two disbursements: the first one is the Book Allowance and the second one is the Final Refund. Book Allowance and Final Refund release dates are provided to students before the start of each semester; they are published at http://studentservices.southtexascollege.edu/finaid/book_allowances.html.