A change to the formula that determines eligibility for Pell Grants, a major source of federal grant money given to students nationwide, has resulted in 381 fewer N.C. State students receiving the grant and a loss of $970,000 of funding from it, according to Julie Mallette, director of the Office of Scholarships and Financial Aid.
Mallette said she noticed the changes while comparing data from Jan. 23 to Jan. 25 of last year. She said it is possible with a new freshman class, students’ incomes could have changed and as a result, fewer students would need financial aid. However, Mallette noted these figures most likely result from changes by the U.S. Department of Education to the formula that determines Pell Grant eligibility.
The formula figures each student family’s amount of disposable income to pay for college funds.
Pell Grants pay a maximum of $4,050 to each student, with the most aid going to the students with the greatest need.
Adjustments to state tax tables revealed families to have more disposable income to contribute to student funds, Mallette said.
“Those on the cusp of receiving aid were most affected,” Mallette said. “They were the [students] most likely to lose funding.”
This indicates those students who received the minimum Pell Grant amount before may no longer be eligible.
Rance Jackson, senior associate director of Financial Aid, said the Bush administration has proposed more changes to the Pell Grant for the 2007 fiscal year.
According to a report in The Chronicle of Higher Education, Bush has proposed to cut funding for Pell Grants by 2.3 percent for 2007. He has also proposed to keep the maximum amount available to each student at $4,050. This amount hasn’t changed in five years according to the report. The plan proposes $12.7 billion to be spent on Pell Grants as opposed to more than $13 billion in estimated spending for 2006.
The money lost to students through the changes to the Pell Grant was likely made up through state funding, Mallette said.
The University of North Carolina need-based grant gives money to those students on a need basis, according to Jackson.
The appropriations are decided by the State, he said.
Mallette said grants are handed out on a first-come, first-served basis and priority is given to those students who apply for financial aid early, at the latest by March 1.
“The earlier our students apply, the more likely they can be eligible for the grant,” she said.
An early application is not the only factor that determines who gets the most aid, but those in good academic standing and making progress toward his or her degree will be favored, according to Mallette.
