Lifetime Pell Grant confusion - can I transfer it to my kids on FAFSA?

I think you might be misunderstanding what "lifetime" means in this context. It doesn't mean you have a lifetime award that you can use whenever or transfer to others. It actually refers to the Lifetime Eligibility Used (LEU) for Pell Grants, which tracks how much of your MAXIMUM LIFETIME ELIGIBILITY you've already used up. The current limit is the equivalent of 6 years of Pell Grants. So the "lifetime" part is a restriction, not a benefit you can pass down. Your children's Pell Grant eligibility will be determined solely by your current household finances when they complete their FAFSA. As for you going back to school, you'd need to check your LEU percentage on studentaid.gov to see if you've used up your eligibility. But even if you have eligibility left, you'd still need to demonstrate financial need based on your current income situation.

lol no u can't transfer ur pell to ur kids that would be awesome but the govt isnt that nice!! i thought the same thing when i went back 2 school after 10 yrs and had to do fafsa all over again. they look at current income no matter what.

There's actually some confusion here. "Lifetime Pell" isn't an official term in the financial aid world. What you're probably seeing is a record of receiving Pell Grants along with information about your Lifetime Eligibility Used (LEU). To directly answer your questions: 1. No, you absolutely cannot transfer any Pell eligibility to your children. Each student's FAFSA is evaluated individually based on their own situation and your current household financial information. 2. If you return to school, your eligibility would be based on: - Whether you've used up your 600% Lifetime Eligibility (equivalent to 6 years) - Your current financial situation - You being enrolled in an eligible program Something helpful for your kids - if you have multiple children in college simultaneously, that DOES positively impact their aid eligibility since your household income is essentially being divided among multiple students.

As someone who works in financial aid, I can confirm what others have said. The "lifetime" reference is about limitations, not transferable benefits. Your Lifetime Eligibility Used (LEU) for Pell Grants is capped at 600% (equivalent to 6 years of full-time enrollment). To check your LEU: 1. Log into studentaid.gov with your FSA ID 2. Go to "My Aid" under your name 3. Look for the Pell Grant section where it shows your LEU percentage For your children, their expected SAI (Student Aid Index, formerly EFC) will be calculated based on your current household finances when they file FAFSA. There's no way to transfer Pell eligibility to dependents. If you're concerned about your income disqualifying them, look into CSS Profile schools that consider additional financial factors FAFSA doesn't, or explore merit-based scholarships that aren't need-based.

THE WHOLE SYSTEM IS DESIGNED TO SCREW OVER MIDDLE CLASS FAMILIES!!! When I went to college in the 90s, tuition was REASONABLE and Pell actually COVERED something. Now my kids are getting NOTHING because we make "too much" on paper but not enough to actually PAY for college without going into massive debt. It's ALL A SCAM to force people into student loans they'll never pay off!!

Just FYI - been trying to reach someone at Federal Student Aid for WEEKS about a similar LEU question. Kept getting disconnected or 3+ hour wait times. Finally used this service called Claimyr (claimyr.com) and got through in 10 minutes. They have a video demo showing how it works: https://youtu.be/TbC8dZQWYNQ The agent confirmed I still had 45% of my Pell eligibility remaining even though it's been 12 years since I last used it. And that my daughter's eligibility is completely separate from mine.

my cousin works at a college finaid office and she says lots of parents dont realize theres a big difference between the old EFC and the new SAI on fafsa. the calculations changed this year and some middle income families actually get more aid now. might be worth checking into??

Thanks everyone for the helpful info! To summarize what I've learned: 1. The "lifetime" part of Pell Grants refers to MY limited eligibility (max 6 years equivalent), not something I can transfer to my kids 2. If I want to go back to school, I'd need to check my remaining LEU percentage AND still qualify based on current income 3. My kids' aid will be determined by our current financial situation when they apply 4. Having multiple kids in college at once might help with their aid calculations 5. CSS Profile schools might consider more of our financial factors than FAFSA I'm going to check my LEU and look more into CSS Profile schools. Thanks again for clearing this up!

Just wanted to add something that might help with your situation - if you're looking at ways to maximize aid for your kids, consider timing any major financial decisions carefully. For example, if you're planning to make a large retirement account contribution or have flexibility in when you realize capital gains/losses, the timing relative to the FAFSA filing years can impact your aid eligibility. Also, don't forget about work-study programs and institutional grants that individual colleges offer. These often have different criteria than federal aid and might be more accessible even with higher family income. Some schools are surprisingly generous with merit aid that isn't need-based at all. Good luck with the process - it's definitely confusing but you're asking all the right questions!

Welcome to the community! I see you're getting great advice here. As someone who went through this process recently with my own kids, I wanted to add that it's worth checking if your state has any special programs for parents who are returning to school. Some states offer grants or scholarships specifically for adult learners that aren't tied to your previous federal aid usage. Also, regarding your kids' aid - while you can't transfer Pell eligibility, if you do decide to go back to school yourself while they're in college, having a parent in school can sometimes be factored into the family's overall financial aid picture at certain institutions. It's not common, but worth asking about during the aid process. The FAFSA system definitely isn't intuitive, but you're doing great by asking these questions early in the process!