By Andrea Conley/tr news editor
Students who have previously qualified for Pell grant funds may get additional help starting this summer.
Legislation recently signed by President Barack Obama will increase the maximum award available to eligible students. Awards will increase annually and in increments to adjust for inflation from the current maximum of $5,550 per school year to $5,975 by 2017.
Beginning in May, eligible students who used Pell funds in 2009-2010 may receive an additional Pell award to use this summer.
Jerry Racioppi, director of the Trinity River financial aid office, put the new legislation into perspective for TCC students.
“Basically, what it does for students who go to school full-time during fall and spring and use up their Pell grant, it allows them to get some (Pell funds) to use in the summer,” he said.
Several conditions must be maintained to receive the additional funds. The student must meet the general family income eligibility requirements for Pell and maintain satisfactory academic progress standing with the college. The student also must have completed 24 semester credits by the end of spring and plan to enroll in six semester credits during the summer term.
Racioppi said students eligible for this aid and who successfully complete their coursework can complete their studies even sooner.
“Usually, if they attended full-time during the fall and spring, they exhausted their entire award and would not have funds available for the summer. That’s not the case anymore,” he said.
However, understanding all the stipulations of the new award is tricky. Racioppi said interested students should contact the financial aid office soon because the demand is likely to be high.
“We will need to help on a case-by-case basis when people have questions,” he said.
Students should call the financial aid office on their campus or visit in person during regular business hours.
