FAFSA SAI score of 1512 - Pell Grant eligibility and next steps for funding

With an SAI of 1512, your daughter should be eligible for a significant Pell Grant, though not necessarily the maximum. The current Pell Grant range for 2025-2026 goes up to about $7,395 for students with an SAI of 0. With your SAI of 1512, she'll likely qualify for around $5,500-6,000, but the exact amount depends on her enrollment status (full-time vs part-time). Regarding your other questions: 1) No further action needed on the FAFSA end - just wait for award letters from colleges. 2) Funds are typically disbursed directly to the school each semester to cover tuition/fees first, with remaining funds provided to the student for other expenses. 3) Merit scholarships come directly from each college - they'll include those in their financial aid award letters based on her application. 4) Good news - merit scholarships generally DON'T reduce Pell Grant eligibility! Pell is based on financial need, while merit is based on academic/other achievements.

Congrats on completing the FAFSA!! Ugh, it's such a headache. When my son got his SAI last year (it was like 1700-something), he got about $5,300 in Pell Grants. BUT every school calculated his total package differently. Some were super generous with institutional aid, others barely gave anything beyond the federal stuff. The whole "waiting for award letters" thing is NERVE-WRACKING. We didn't get our first one until late March even though he applied in November!!! Just warning you it might be a wait. Oh and watch out - some schools try to make loans look like scholarships in their letters. Read EVERYTHING carefully before celebrating.

just adding that pell grants r the best bc they dont need 2 be paid back. ur SAI is good news, def gettin some $$. my brother got around 6k with similar #s

Regarding your merit scholarship question - each college handles this differently. Some automatically consider all applicants for merit aid, others require separate applications. You should check each college's financial aid website RIGHT NOW to see if there are additional scholarship applications with deadlines you might miss! Also, your daughter should really be applying for outside scholarships too. There are thousands of smaller scholarships ($500-$2000) from community organizations, companies, etc. Every bit helps, and these external scholarships usually don't affect Pell eligibility either. Most colleges follow a "gift aid first" approach, meaning they apply scholarships and grants before loans. But some less-than-ethical places will reduce their institutional aid if you get outside scholarships, essentially pocketing the difference - this is called scholarship displacement. Always ask how external scholarships will affect their aid package.

If your daughter has that SAI, she's definitely getting a good Pell Grant! THE SYSTEM IS ACTUALLY WORKING FOR ONCE!?!? But don't expect colleges to be fast or efficient with their award letters. I was calling financial aid offices DAILY in April last year trying to get my son's package finalized before the May 1 decision deadline. THEY LITERALLY SENT HIS FINAL OFFER APRIL 28TH!!!! How are families supposed to make decisions like this?? The whole system is designed to be confusing so you can't compare offers easily. Every school uses different terms and formatting for their award letters. It's INFURIATING.

I wanted to address your question about how the funds get disbursed, as that confuses many families. The Pell Grant and most other aid is sent directly to the school's financial aid office. They apply it to her student account in this order typically: 1. First to tuition and mandatory fees 2. Then to on-campus housing and meal plans (if applicable) 3. Any remaining funds are disbursed to the student as a "refund" for other educational expenses This refund can come as a direct deposit, check, or loaded onto a student card depending on the school. Many students use this for books, supplies, off-campus housing, transportation, etc. Most schools disburse at the beginning of each semester, not as one lump sum for the year. So she'll receive half her Pell in fall and half in spring typically.

Have you tried calling Federal Student Aid to get a clarification on the exact Pell Grant amount? I was in a similar situation last year and spent HOURS trying to get through to someone who could actually help. If you're struggling to reach them, I recently discovered this service called Claimyr (claimyr.com) that helped me skip the hold times and actually get through to a real person at FSA. They have a video showing how it works: https://youtu.be/TbC8dZQWYNQ I used it to sort out my son's verification issue and got connected to an agent in minutes instead of waiting for hours. They explained his exact Pell eligibility and what other aid he might qualify for based on his SAI. Super helpful when the website wasn't giving clear answers.

One more thing about merit scholarships - they're completely separate from need-based aid like the Pell Grant. Your daughter can receive both to their full amounts, which is great news! However, there is a concept called "meeting full need" that some colleges follow. If a college is committed to meeting 100% of demonstrated financial need, they calculate: Cost of Attendance - Expected Family Contribution (now called SAI) = Financial Need They then provide enough total aid to cover that gap. If they include merit scholarships as part of meeting that need, it can feel like they're "reducing" other aid, but they're really just putting together a complete package that doesn't exceed the calculated need. Only a small number of elite schools are "need-blind" AND meet full need without loans. Most schools will have a gap between aid offered and your calculated need.

Forgot to mention - APPEAL YOUR AID if it's not enough! My son got an additional $3500 per year just by writing a polite letter explaining why we needed more help. Include any changes in financial circumstances since you filed FAFSA (job loss, medical expenses, etc). The worst they can say is no! Also, don't forget to do the CSS Profile if any of her schools require it. That's a separate form from the College Board that many private schools use in addition to FAFSA. It looks at assets differently and can affect institutional aid.