Calculate the amount of your semester Federal Pell Grant award amounts by using this award schedule and information from your paper or electronic Student Aid Report (SAR). If you don't have your SAR, you may access your SAR information online and download a copy at: www.fafsa.ed.gov/FOTWWebApp/studentaccess.jsp. You will need your Federal PIN to view and download your SAR.

USING THE CHART
To use this chart, you need to know your Expected Family Contribution (EFC) and your enrollment status. If you need information on how to calculate your correct enrollment status, click on the the enrollment status link. Your EFC can be found on your SAR.

1. Locate your EFC on your paper or electronic SAR.

2. On the Pell Grant Award Schedule, look at the left-hand column labeled "EFC" and find the range of numbers containing your particular EFC.

3. Look at the columns to the right labeled with the 4 different enrollment statuses. The appropriate PELL GRant award amounts for every EFC are printed for each enrollment status. FInd the column for your enrollment status and move across the same row as your EFC until you find the award amount for your particular enrollment status.

DISBURSEMENT INFORMATION
If you have chosen direct deposit as your preferred method of disbursement, your Pell Grant funds will be available in your direct deposit account on the dates listed below.

If you did not select direct deposit as your preferred method of disbursement, your Fall and Spring semester checks will be mailed to you on the dates listed below.

Note: If you miss the regularly scheduled disbursement date because your FAFSA was not processed in time, you may still receive a late disbursement of Pell if processing of your application is completed before your last day of attendance. Find more information on our PELL Q & A page.

ATTENDANCE
To qualify for any Federal financial aid payments, you must actually begin attendance in your classes. Before disbursing your Pell Grant, we will verify your enrollment status with the Registrar. If you are excessively absent from a class during the first 5 weeks of the semester, the Registrar may record you as having unofficially withdrawn from that class. The credits for any course from which you have withdrawn, unofficially or otherwise, are not counted in calculating your enrollment status, even though you may still be charged for these courses. If you receive a completion grade in any course not included for payment in your Pell Grant check, you may request an award recalculation at the end of the semester.

WITHDRAWALS AND OVERPAYMENTS
Federal regulations specify that you must attend at least 60% of the semester before you become eligible for 100% of your federal student aid awards for that term. If you withdraw from all your classes before you have completed at least 60% of the semester, the College must determine what portion of your federal awards you are entitled to receive according to an attendance formula prescribed in federal regulations. If you have received, or the College has received on your behalf, more federal student aid funds than the formula allows, you will have to repay any award amount to which you were not entitled. If you fail to repay any award amount to which you were not entitled, you risk losing your eligibility for future federal aid payments. The dates listed below mark the point in each term when you have earned 100% of your semester awards:

POST-WITHDRAWAL DISBURSEMENTS
If you withdraw from your classes before the scheduled disbursement of your Federal Pell Grant, you may be eligible to receive a pro-rated award payment based on the number of days you attended classes up to the date you withdrew. If you are eligible for a pro-rated Pell Grant disbursement, you will be notified by CUNY about your eligbility for any post-withdrawal award monies. You will be required to indicate in writing whether you wish to receive these funds before they will be made available to you.

PAYMENTS FOR REMEDIAL COURSEWORK
You may receive federal award payments for no more than 30 hours of non-credit remedial course work. This restriction does not apply to English as a Second Language courses.

SATISFACTORY PROGRESS
In accordance with Federal guidelines and University policy, you must be making satisfactory progress in your program of study in order to remain eligible for federal award programs. You will be measured for satisfactory progress once each year after the spring term and notified by mail if you are found not to be meeting the satisfactory progress standard. Copies of these satisfactory progress guidelines are available from the financial aid pages of the College's web site at: www.bmcc.cuny.edu/finaid/progress/federal.html.

SUMMER PELL GRANT ELIGIBILITY
You may receive up to 4 full-time semesters of Pell Grant in any award year.  You are no longer limited to an annual amount based on 2 semesters of full-time enrollment.  This means that if you qualify for a 2009-10 Pell Grant, you may receive disbursements in the 2009 Summer sessions, and the Fall 2009 or Spring 2010 terms without exhausting your remaining eligibility for the payment period.  This is a change from previous years. 

However, after you have received 2 full-time semesters worth of Pell in an a single award year, you will have to enroll at least 6 credits/equated credits to qualify for additional payments in that award year.  The amount of your summer Pell Grant will be calculated from your summer session enrollment and your EFC.  Calculated summer Pell Grant estimates can be applied against tuition charges to your summer session bill.  For payment of Pell during the summer 2009 sessions, you will need to have a processed FAFSA on file for the 2009-10 award year.

PELL GRANT PURCHASE ADVANCE
Since Federal Pell Grant awards are paid relatively late in the Fall & Spring semesters, the Office of Financial Aid schedules an advance payment of Pell for eligible students at the beginning of the Fall and Spring semesters.  These advance payments are intended to give you a portion of your award early to help you purchase books and supplies.  In order to provide an advance payment to as many students as possible within the first 2 weeks of classes, the Office of Financial Aid schedules two dates at the beginning of each term for the distribution of the advance.  The amount of your Pell Advance can be up to $500 but depends on the amount of available Pell Grant remaining after your tuition and fees are paid. Obtain more information about your eligibility for the purchase advance here.