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Grants

Grants

GRANTS

Almost all of our grants are awarded to students with financial need. If you are interested in our grants, or in any federal student aid, you have to start by submitting a Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA). You have to fill out the FAFSA every year you’re in school in order to stay eligible for federal student aid.

Pell Grants

Federal Pell Grant

Pell Grant offers assistance to high need students working toward their first bachelor's degree. The Pell Grant is funded each year by Congress, which sets the minimum and maximum award amounts. If you are eligible for the Pell Grant, it will be listed on your Georgia State University financial aid award offer. Eligibility is determined by the FAFSA. There is no separate application, and the award will disburse automatically once you are registered. If you are enrolled less than full-time (12 credits) the amount disbursed will be less than the amount listed on your award offer.
2022-2023 PELL PAYMENT CHART
2023-2024 PELL PAYMENT CHART

Pell Recalculation Policy

Pell award amount will be determined on the financial aid freeze date.  If enrollment increases after the freeze date,  the Pell award will not be increased.  If enrollment decreases due to being withdrawn for lack of attendance (-W) or dropping a course, then the Pell award may be reduced.

A student awarded a Year Round Pell award during summer semester must be enrolled in a minimum of 6 credit hours.  If enrollment falls below 6 credit hours due to being withdrawn for lack of attendance (-W) or dropping a course, then the total summer Pell award will be cancelled.

Year Round Pell

Previously, students that on average enrolled in 9 or more credit hours during the fall and spring semesters would have used all or most of the Pell Grant awarded and have little to no Pell Grant remaining for summer; the maximum allowed amount per academic year was 100 percent.

Effective Summer 2018, the Pell Grant allowed amount per academic year has been increased from 100 percent to 150 percent; the Pell Lifetime Eligibility (LEU) limit of 600 percent still applies.

Depending on a student's enrollment during fall and spring semesters, a student may be eligible for the additional Pell Grant (2nd Pell) for summer. If the student's combined fall, spring, and summer Pell grant award exceeds 100 percent, then a student must be enrolled in at least 6 credit hours to receive the summer Pell Grant disbursement.

Examples on possible summer Pell Grant awarding.

Student A. 

The student has used 100 percent fall and spring, but is not eligible for summer Pell because the total credit hours are less than the minimum 6 credit hours. Semester Credit Hours Pell (%)
Fall 12 $2960 (50%)
Spring 12 $2960 (50%)
Summer 5 0

 

Student B. 

The student has used 100 percent fall and spring, and is eligible for summer Pell because the total credit hours are more than the minimum 6 credit hours. Semester Credit Hours Pell (%)
Fall 12 $2960 (50%)
Spring 12 $2960 (50%)
Summer 6 $1480 (25%)

 

Student C. 

The student has used 87.5 percent fall and spring.  As the total is below 100 percent, the minimum credit hour is at least 1 credit hour. Semester Credit Hours Pell (%)
Fall 9 $2220 (37.5%)
Spring 12 $2960 (50%)
Summer 3 $740  (12.5%)

 

Student D. 

The student has used 50 percent fall and/ spring.  As the total is below 100 percent, the minimum credit hour is at least 1 credit hour. Semester Credit Hours Pell (%)
Fall 0 $0 (0%)
Spring 12 $2960 (50%)
Summer 9 $2220 (37.5%)

Pell Lifetime Eligibility Used (LEU)

Beginning July 1, 2012, students are limited to 6 years of Pell eligibility, or the full time equivalent of six years for those attending less than full time. Since the maximum amount of Pell Grant funding you can receive each year is equal to 100%, the six-year equivalent is 600%.  It’s possible that you might not receive your entire scheduled award for an award year. There are a number of reasons for this, the most common of which are that you are not enrolled for the full year or that you are not enrolled full-time, or both. If you did not receive the full amount of your scheduled award, we calculate the percentage of the scheduled award that you did receive.

What this means for you: You must plan now for your future. Make sure you are aware of the Pell Grant lifetime limit and the impact the following have on your continued eligibility:  Changing majors, class withdrawals, repeated coursework, transferring from another school.  The six year limit is a lifetime limit, regardless of completion of your academic goals or bachelor’s degree.  It is important to do financial planning as well as academic planning to optimize funding, as you move toward the completion of your program.

For helpful information in planning your academic progress, you are encouraged to visit the University Advisement Center.

You can view your Lifetime Eligibility (LEU) percentage by logging on to the National Student Loan Data System using your Federal Student Aid (FSA) ID password and then viewing your LEU. The LEU will be found on the Financial Aid Review page. This amount will increase if you receive any additional Pell Grant disbursements over time from Georgia State or any other college/university in the country.

For more information, visit the federal government’s website on the subject.

Federal Supplemental Educational Opportunity Grant

Federal Supplemental Educational Opportunity Grant (FSEOG)

SEOG is a federal grant available to very high need students working toward their first bachelor's degree. If you are eligible for SEOG it will be listed on your award offer. There is no separate application, and the award will disburse automatically once you are registered for at least six credit hours.

TEACH Grant

TEACH Grant

Teaching Obligation

In exchange for receiving a TEACH Grant, you must agree to serve as a full-time teacher in a high-need field in a public or private elementary or secondary school that serves low-income students (see below for more information on high-need fields and schools serving low-income students). As a recipient of a TEACH Grant, you must teach for at least four academic years within eight calendar years of completing the program of study for which you received a TEACH Grant. IMPORTANT: If you fail to complete this service obligation, all amounts of TEACH Grants that you received will be converted to a Federal Direct Unsubsidized Stafford Loan. You must then repay this loan to the U.S. Department of Education. You will be charged interest from the date the grant(s) was disbursed.

Service Agreement

Each year you receive a TEACH Grant, you must sign a TEACH Grant Agreement to Serve and Promise to Pay (service agreement) which will be available electronically on the U.S. Department of Education web site.  When you sign the service agreement, you are agreeing to repay the grant as a Federal Direct Unsubsidized Loan, with interest accrued from the date that the grant funds were disbursed, if you do not complete the teaching obligation. You must perform the teaching service as a highly-qualified teacher at a low-income school. The term highly-qualified teacher is defined in section 9101(23) of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 or in section 602(10) of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act. Your teaching service must be in a high-need field. You must comply with any other requirements that the Department of Education determines to be necessary. Once the grant has been converted to a loan, it cannot be converted back to a grant.

Counseling

You will be required to complete counseling through the financial aid office each year that you accept a TEACH Grant.  You will also be required to complete Exit Counseling when you graduate or leave school.

High-Need Subject Areas

your major must specifically be from on the list

  • Behavior/Learning Disabilities
  • English As Second Language
  • Mathematics Education
  • Science Education
  • Birth Through Five
  • English Education
  • Middle Childhood Education
  • Social Studies Education
  • Curriculum and Instruction
  • English Speakers Other Lang
  • Middle Level Education
  • Spanish
  • Early Childhood Education
  • Instructional Design & Tech
  • Multiple/Severe Disabilities
  • Special Ed/Early Childhood
  • Early Childhood Education Se
  • Mathematics
  • Physics
  • Special Education
  • Elementary Education
  • Mathematics & Science
  • Reading/Language & Literacy Ed
  • Teaching & Learning

Eligibility

At Georgia State University, you must:

  • Be a U.S. citizen or eligible non-citizen
  • Complete a FAFSA, although you do not have to demonstrate financial need to be eligible at www.fafsa.gov
  • Be enrolled as an undergraduate-Junior or Senior or graduate student and accepted in one of the high-need subject areas listed above
  • Have and maintain a cumulative GPA of at least 3.25.  New graduate program students must have an undergraduate GPA of 3.25.
  • Juniors or seniors are eligible only if they are pursuing their first undergraduate degree. Students pursuing a second undergraduate degree are NOT eligible for the TEACH Grant
  • Students must be enrolled in a degree seeking program.
  • Complete the Georgia State University Teach Grant Application each year
  • Sign an Agreement to Serve and complete counseling each year that you receive a grant at https://studentloans.gov
  • Complete Entrance Counseling at https://studentloans.gov

Students are awarded based on the number of hours enrolled and federal funding at the time eligibility is determined.

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