Pell Grant Information Site

Pell Grant Disbursement is a tricky thing in the college world. There are several rules and regulations regarding the disbursement of Pell Grant finds to the student. Let’s start with the basic information to ensure you will get your Pell Grant.

Before any school’s financial aid office can give you Pell grant funds, it must have a fully updated FAFSA. If you still have to make corrections regarding your tax information or you omitted parental information, your Pell funds are not going to be disbursed until this is all updated.

It is up to the school on when it will make the payment to the student; this is decided on what is best for the student. You certainly are not going to get a full year’s worth of Pell Grant funds before you start any classes. The school will usually put half of your grant in your student account on the first day of class. This is put into place to prevent fraudulent financial aid. Most schools will also give you book vouchers to use at the book store and the funds will come out of your Pell Grant.

The school will always pay for outstanding classes and fees with Pell Grant money before it disburses any funds to the student. If the student has already paid for all classes out of pocket and has no outstanding charges on the account, then the school will disburse all remaining Pell funds directly to the student.

Students will disburse funds to students in a couple of ways. You can have them give you a check at the cashier’s office, you can have the check sent to your home, or the funds can be directly deposited into your bank account with a prior authorization.
The most important things to remember to ensure that you get your Pell Grant disbursed to you is to have your FAFSA complete, register for all your classes on time, and keep in contact with your financial aid office at your school.