The U.S. Department of Education has established new regulations to prevent fraud and abuse in the Federal Pell Grant Program by identifying students with unusual enrollment histories. Some students who have an unusual enrollment history have legitimate reasons for their enrollment at multiple institutions. However, such an enrollment history requires our office to review your file in order to determine future federal financial aid eligibility. If selected by the Department of Education (via the FAFSA), this must be resolved before you will receive financial aid.
The specific pattern the Department of Education uses to select students includes those students who have received a Federal Pell Grant or Federal Direct Loan (not including a Direct Consolidation Loan or parent PLUS Loan) at multiple institutions during the past four academic years. Once the Department of Education indicates that a student has an unusual enrollment history, the Financial Aid office must then take action and review the academic history prior to determining federal financial aid eligibility for that student.
If selected, our office will notify you of what is required. We will check your financial aid history at your previous institutions that you attended during the previous four years. You are required to have received academic credit at any institution you received the Federal Pell Grant or Federal Direct Loan (not including a Direct Consolidation Loan or parent PLUS Loan) while attending in those relevant academic years. Our office will verify the academic credit was received at each institution during the relevant years. If so, we will notify you that you have satisfied this requirement. If you failed to receive academic credit at any institution you received a Federal Pell Grant at during the relevant award years, your federal financial aid will be denied and you will be notified. You will also receive notification that you can provide a statement explaining why you did not receive academic credit.
For more information on academic requirements, review the current Undergraduate Bulletin.