Federal guidelines require Title IV eligible institutions to set a Pell Recalculation Policy. The Alfred State Student Records and Financial Services Office has a policy in which a Pell Recalculation Date (PRD) is established for each semester. On the PRD, a student's Pell Grant eligibility is locked in based on their enrollment status as of that date. For the fall and spring semesters, the PRD is on Friday of the fourth week of the semester. For the summer semester, the PRD is the Friday of the third week of the semester. Generally, any schedule changes that will add or drop credits after the PRD for the semester will not increase or decrease a Pell award. However, Federal regulations require the college to recalculate Pell grant eligibility when a student fails to begin attendance in any coursework used to calculate and award a Pell grant even if this occurs after the PRD.
The following example uses a semester start date of Monday, Aug. 30 and a Pell Recalculation Date of Sept. 24.
- A student registers for 12 credit hours (full time) for the fall semester.
- During the first week of classes starting on Aug. 30, this student drops one three-credit class, leaving the student with 9 credits. Since the PRD has not yet occurred, the student's Pell Grant will reduce to a prorated award based on 9 credits.
- If this student does not add another course before the Pell Recalculation Date of Sept. 24, the Pell Grant will be locked in based on 9 credits and will not increase even if the student registers for a late semester part-of-term course after Sept. 24.
- If the same student decides to drop another course after Sept. 24 after at least beginning attendance in the course, their Pell award will not change. However, if they drop the course before beginning attendance, their Pell award will reduce to a prorated award based on 6 credits.
Please note:
- Students who withdraw from college may be subject to a recalculation of all federal aid based on the amount of time attended.
- Students adding additional courses late in the semester will not be eligible for an increase to their Pell Grant if the course is added after the PRD for the semester.
- Federal regulations require the College to recalculate Pell Grant eligibility when a student fails to begin attendance in any coursework used to calculate and award a Pell Grant even if this occurs after the PRD.
- Pell is not impacted when a student drops and adds the same number of credits, unless they drop before the PRD and do not add classes until after the PRD.