What is the Difference between Financial Aid and a Pellgrant?

What is the difference between Financial Aid and a Pellgrant?





And what exactly is FASFA?





A clean, easy to read and understand description of each would be most appreciated!|||A Pell Grant is a type of financial aid. Financial aid is any assistance (whether from government funding or private sources) that a college student receives to help pay tuition and/or other costs associated with college (such as books, room/board, etc.). The three general types of financial aid are grants, loans, and work/study.





Grants do not have to be repaid, and require no labor in return. Scholarships are grants. Pell Grants come from the U.S. Government and can only be used to pay tuition. The amount of money a student gets from a Pell Grant is based on income (for most students, it's the parents' income; the exception is if a student can prove that he/she is financially independent of his/her parents).





Loans have to be repaid. There are government programs (both state and federal) that provide low-interest student loans that can pay for tuition, room/board, textbooks, and/or a combination of the above. Most banks also offer their own student loan programs, but shop carefully as rates and conditions vary widely. Usually there is a "grace period" after leaving school before beginning repayment (mine was 6 months). Interest on my state-sponsored loan was 9%, and it took 10 years to pay it off.





Work/study is just as its name suggests. These programs give money that has fewer restrictions on how it is spent, but in return, the student works for the college/university. Graduate assistant teachers, RA's (student "dorm monitors" in charge of a floor or wing of a dormitory), and many "worker bees" at a college are participants in a work/study program. These programs are administered through the individual schools, and positions are highly coveted and competition for these spots can be fierce.





Now that I've been reminded by other responders that the FASFA is the form used to apply for financial aid, I can also remember that that one form will be used to determine eligibility for all federally- (and often, state- and university- as well) sponsored programs. To apply for privately-sponsored funds, you have to do your own networking. Search the Internet, haunt your counselor's office, check out organizations to which members of your family belong. Lots of scholarship money goes unclaimed every year because eligible students don't know it's there.|||YES YOU CAN APPLY FOR BOTH OF THEM. ONE IS 'PELT' IT'S FROM THE GOVT. THIS IS 'FREE' $, YOU DON'T HAVE TO PAY IT BACK. FASA IS FINANCIAL AID AND IT'S ONLY A LOAN FOR WHICH USUALLY AFTER 6 MONTHS AFTER GRADUATION DATE IT MUST START MAKING PAYMENTS AND THEY GIVE YOU TEN YEARS TO PAY FOR IT. AND IF YOU NEED FURTHER FINANCIAL ASSISTANCE THAT IS AVAILABLE THROUGH 'CITIBANK.COM'.|||"Financial Aid" is any outside monetary help you get to pay for college.





Financial Aid includes government loans, grants, federal work study programs, and of course private loans.





When you apply to a university, you also submit the Federal Application for Student Financial Aid (FAFSA).





The FAFSA asks you questions about your student status, financial situation, and that of your parents as well (if they still claim you as a dependent).





From the information you supply on the FAFSA, the government applies a mathematical algorithm that calculates your


E.F.C(expected family contribution), in other words what you have to pay out of pocket. If the cost of attendance exceeds the EFC, your school usually provides you with an aid package that covers these costs.





A Pellgrant is a federal grant (money you don't have to pay back)


available to low-income individuals.





I believe Pell grants total $4000 per school year these days.|||Presdigi has mostly the right answers! The MAXIMUM Pell is 4500 now and not everyone qualifies for the entire amount.|||Either way your a beggar.|||FAFSA = free application for federal student aid; see www.fafsa.ed.gov





The Pell Grant is one form of financial aid.