<p>My daughter is attending a four year school, and her degree program requires her to take a language. This year, she registered through her school’s registration system for a total of 15 semester hours – but there’s a catch, and it seems to have affected her Pell Grant award.</p>
<p>The Spanish class is 5 credit hours, and although she registered through her school’s system and is actually taking the class at her home campus – just as she is all her classes – the instructor is from a community college, and the class is actually through that college (and this portion of the tuition had to be paid directly to that school). </p>
<p>Anyway, the gist of it is that her home school has reduced the Pell Grant award based on what they’re considering an enrollment of 10 hours, not 15.</p>
<p>My question is, is this some sort of weird part of the Federal regs, or is this up to the school in question?</p>
<p>The regs are very clear: students may only receive a Pell grant at one school in a term. If the two schools do not have a consortium agreement (and if they do, but she is not enrolled in the consortium program), she will not be able to receive any aid for the community college course.</p>
<p>I would bet there’s a consortium but your D is not part of the consortium program. I would suggest contacting the home school’s financial aid office & asking - ask for the Pell officer.</p>
<p>Thank you. Your answer was both quick and clear! </p>
<p>In this case, the entire amount of the Pell Grant was less than the tuition at the home school, so if they applied the full amount (and the difference was not huge, thanfully) it would not actually go to the other school.</p>
<p>However, if I understand your answer, they really can only look at the hours at their own institution – 10 – and make the award using the same standard they would for any other student with that number of hours.</p>
<p>Defies common sense and what seems most likely the law’s intent, I would think, but it wouldn’t be the first Federal reg to do so!</p>
<p>Thanks again!</p>
<p>The intent is to keep students from receiving aid at two colleges…double-dipping. While the regulation also affects students like yours, it can be difficult to determine complete situations and abuse has run rampant in the past and now the regulations have to be broadly applied. Unfortunately because of the abuse, much of the common sense has been removed from Federal regulations.</p>
<p>The way the rules read, a student must be enrolled as a degree-seeking student in order to receive Pell at a school. This is why guest students (students just taking classes, not getting degrees, at a school) cannot receive a Pell.</p>
<p>Is that even allowed? To take a course through a school but it is TECHNICALLY through the CC and the student wasn’t informed? If it’s not against the rules, it at least seems very unethical IMO.</p>