On January 31, 2020, the Department of Education, signed by Mark A. Brown, Chief Operating officer, released the Pell grant payment charts for the 2020-2021 award year. Each year, HEAG monitors the Pell grant changes closely to share the news with our client base.
The newly released charts are based on the Further Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2020 signed into law on December 19, 2019 by President Trump. The bill decreased the overall Department of Education FY2020 budget by 10% and includes the cancellation of $2B of unobligated balances in the Pell Grant program. According to the Department of Education, applicant growth increased by 0.82% for the 2019-20 award year.
The maximum Pell grant award for 2020-2021 is $6,345 for eligible students with a 0 EFC (make sure to read additional awarding guidance provided in the Dear Colleague Letter linked below). In addition to increasing the maximum Pell, overall Pell eligibility expanded to include students with an expected family contribution (EFC) of up to 5,711. An increase from last year’s max Pell eligible EFC at 5,576.
Note that there are provisions still in place regarding the Children of Fallen Heroes Scholarship Act. To qualify for this scholarship, a student must be Pell-eligible and have a Pell-eligible EFC (up to 5711 for the 2020-2021 award year), and be less than 24 years of age or enrolled at an institution of higher education at the time of his or her parent’s or guardian’s death. In subsequent award years, the student continues to be eligible for the scholarship, as long as the student has a Pell-eligible EFC and continues to be an eligible student.
The full payment schedules and additional awarding guidance can be found in the links below. As stated in the Dear Colleague Letter, keep an eye out for future announcements regarding ED system and software modifications to reflect the recently released tables. These include changes to the Central Processing System (CPS), the Institutional Student Information Record (ISIR) Analysis Tool, the Common Origination and Disbursement (COD) System, and the EDExpress for Windows software.
2020-2021 Pell Grant: New Payment Charts & Resources
Dear Colleague Letter GEN-20-01: 2020-2021 Federal Pell Grant Payment and Disbursement Schedules
Payment Schedule download (PDF): 2020 – 2021 Federal Pell Grant Payment and Disbursement Schedules
Payment Schedule download (Excel): 2020 – 2021 Federal Pell Grant Payment and Disbursement Schedules