Federal Pell Grant

As of 2012 July, the duration of the eligibility of the Pell Federal Scholarship is reduced to 6 years studying full-time or 600%. The Federal Department of Education calls the percent of use of the scholarship Lifetime Eligibility Used: LEU. To know how the Department of Federal Education does the calculation you can access: www.studentaid.ed.gov/pell-limit.

There are several ways to submit the request:

The new student completes the application via Internet or submits it to the Financial Aid Office of Inter American University where it will be processed, electronically, to the United States Central Processing Center. Inter American University of Puerto Rico will receive information concerning the eligibility of the applicant informed on the Student Aid Report (ISIR) and will communicate this to the applicant. The advantage of this method is that it speeds up the process, avoids errors and the applicant does not have to wait to receive the response by mail. Normally, Inter American University of Puerto Rico receives the response within 72 working hours from the time the application was transmitted. This method speeds up the process because:
1. The Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) is available on Internet and may be completed from anywhere at any time.
2. Information does not need to go through the mail.
3. If the application is not approved or if information was assumed in the approval process, the Financial Aid Director can help and can get in touch with the student. The Financial Aid Office corrects the error electronically.
4. If the application is approved, the financial aid offer letter will be prepared when the student selects courses for registration,
5. The payment process during enrollment is simplified. It can even be done by mail.
Applicants that received Federal Aid at Inter American University of Puerto Rico the previous year need only to update their application for renewal via Internet (www.fafsa.ed.gov) by using a personal identification number “PIN number” mailed by the US Department of Education. Students that do not have a PIN number may request it by accessing www.pin.ed.gov. This request will be processed immediately so the process may continue.
Indicate on the application the campus of Inter American University where the student intends to study, authorize said campus to receive information regarding the applicant’s eligibility and send the application by mail. This method is not as fast as the one described in item #1 because the application is sent by mail to an intermediary agency where the data information is entered and transmitted to the Central Processing Center. Furthermore, the information is not reviewed by a financial aid official to avoid errors. The response is electronically transmitted to Inter American University.
Send the application by mail without authorizing Inter American University to receive the information electronically. This is the slowest method in processing the application since the application and the response are processed by mail and the University cannot process the application for the grant until the applicant receives it by mail and submits the answer to the Financial Aid Office.

The Financial Aid Officer will determine the amount of aid to be awarded by using the formula which considers the cost of education, the academic load and the Expected Family Contribution.

Eligibility for the Federal Pell Grant expires when the student completes the academic requirements for the first Bachelor’s Degree. Upon completion of the second year of study, students must maintain a minimum grade point index of 1.50 in order to receive federal financial aid.

Students that received their first payment of Federal Pell Grant after the July 1, 2008 have only 18 semesters or equivalent terms to receive this grant.