No Pell Grant eligibility despite low income - need scholarship advice for Norfolk State
My son just got his first acceptance letter from Norfolk State University and he's over the moon excited! I couldn't be happier for him, but I'm secretly panicking about finances. We completed the FAFSA last month and just got our SAI results back - unexpectedly, we don't qualify for ANY Pell Grant money. This makes no sense to me since we're definitely not well-off (single parent household, under $42K income). Now I'm scrambling to figure out how we're going to afford this. He's worked so hard to get here and I haven't seen him this excited about anything in years. I don't want to dampen his spirits by telling him we might not be able to afford it. Has anyone had success finding scholarships specifically for Norfolk State? Or getting their SAI recalculated? Any advice on tuition assistance options I might have missed? I know nothing about private loans and the Parent Plus option terrifies me with the interest rates...
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Skylar Neal
Congrats to your son! My daughter went through the same thing with NSU last year. No Pell but we still got some institutional aid direct from the school. Did u check with their financial aid office yet? They have some school-specific scholarships that don't show up on the regular fin aid package. Also look at the Urban League scholarships for NSU specifcally.
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Brady Clean
•Thank you! I haven't contacted their financial aid office directly yet. Do you think it's better to call or email them? I'm adding Urban League to my list of scholarships to check. How much institutional aid did your daughter end up getting if you don't mind sharing?
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Vincent Bimbach
Not qualifying for Pell with a $42K income as a single parent doesn't sound right. There could be an error on your FAFSA. The most common issues I see are: 1. Accidentally reporting retirement assets as regular assets 2. Including child support that shouldn't be counted 3. Listing yourself as both parent AND contributor 4. Reporting home equity value when it shouldn't be included I'd recommend getting a verification of your FAFSA data. Also, Norfolk State has decent institutional aid - call their financial aid office directly to discuss your situation and ask about their Presidential Scholarship and the Access Grant programs.
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Brady Clean
•Thank you so much for this detailed response! I think I might have made mistake #3 - I didn't realize I shouldn't list myself as both. Would filing a correction help at this point or is it too late? I'll definitely look into those specific scholarship programs you mentioned.
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Kelsey Chin
I went through this EXACT situation with NSU! Try calling the Federal Student Aid hotline to get your SAI recalculated. I spent THREE WEEKS trying to get through to someone. Keep calling and hitting 0 repeatedly to try to get to a human. It's maddening! I finally gave up on doing it myself and used a service called Claimyr (claimyr.com) that got me connected to a live FSA agent in under 30 minutes. They have a video showing how it works: https://youtu.be/TbC8dZQWYNQ. The agent helped identify the error on my application and I ended up qualifying for almost $4000 in Pell Grant after the correction!
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Norah Quay
•does that claimyr thing actually work? ive been trying to get thru to fafsa for days and just get disconnected everytime
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Leo McDonald
First of all, BREATHE. You have options. Not qualifying for Pell doesn't mean you won't get any aid. For Norfolk State specifically: 1. Access & Completion Grant - for VA residents with financial need 2. Commonwealth Grant - also for VA residents with demonstrated need 3. Norfolk State's Departmental Scholarships - check with your son's specific department 4. VGAP (Virginia Guaranteed Assistance Program) - if your son had a 2.5+ GPA Also, check if you made any reporting errors on your FAFSA that affected your SAI. With $42K income as a single parent, something seems off with the calculation.
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Brady Clean
•Thank you so much for these specific options! We are VA residents and his GPA is 3.2, so those first few options sound promising. I'll start researching these right away. You're right that I need to breathe - this has been overwhelming.
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Jessica Nolan
my brother goes to norfolk state and we didnt get pell either but they have this thing called the spartan scholarship or something that he got at orientation. they dont advertise it online much. also check with your sons high school counselor for local scholarships. thats how we got like $2500 extra.
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Brady Clean
•Thanks for the tip about the Spartan Scholarship! I'll definitely ask about that. And I hadn't thought about his high school counselor - that's a great idea. Do you remember about how many hours your brother had to spend applying for those local scholarships?
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Angelina Farar
Did you check your SAI number? Just because you didn't get Pell doesn't mean your SAI isn't low enough for other types of aid. For 2025-2026, an SAI below 7500 can still get you substantial institutional aid at many schools including Norfolk State. Also, make SURE you look at the full aid package when it comes - sometimes the Pell isn't listed separately but is included in the federal aid section without being named specifically. Happened to my daughter and I panicked for nothing!
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Brady Clean
•Our SAI is 4320, which I thought would qualify us for at least some Pell Grant money. We haven't received the full financial aid package yet - maybe you're right and it will be included there. I'll wait for the complete package before panicking more. Thank you!
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Sebastián Stevens
THE WHOLE SYSTEM IS RIGGED!!! I make $39K with two kids and got DENIED Pell too! These calculations are DESIGNED to force parents into debt. Norfolk State is actually better than most but you'll still end up with Parent Plus loans that will DRAIN YOU DRY with interest. My advice? Have your son go to community college for 2 years then transfer. SAVE YOURSELF from this corrupt system!!
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Vincent Bimbach
•While community college can be a good option for some students, with an SAI of 4320 as OP mentioned above, they should qualify for significant aid. There's likely an error in their FAFSA that needs correction, not a conspiracy against them. The federal aid formula is complex but generally works correctly when data is entered accurately.
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Skylar Neal
OMG I just realized I dont think anyone mentioned the HBCU schlarships!!! Norfolk State is an HBCU so theres special scholarships just for those schools. Check out the UNCF (United Negro College Fund) website and the Thurgood Marshall scholarship. My nephew got almost full tuition from combining a few of those!
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Brady Clean
•This is incredibly helpful! I had no idea there were specific scholarships just for HBCUs. I'll check out both the UNCF and Thurgood Marshall scholarship right away. Thank you so much for sharing this information!
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Bethany Groves
With an SAI of 4320 as you mentioned in a comment, you should absolutely qualify for some need-based aid. Here's what I'd do immediately: 1. File a FAFSA correction to fix the parent/contributor issue 2. Contact Norfolk State's financial aid office directly (email AND phone) 3. Ask specifically about the Access Grant and VGAP as someone mentioned 4. Look into HBCU-specific scholarships through UNCF 5. Request an aid appeal based on special circumstances if you've had any recent financial changes Don't let the initial SAI discourage you. Many families successfully navigate this with some persistence.
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Brady Clean
•Thank you for these concrete steps! I've already started on the FAFSA correction this morning. We did have a job change last year that reduced our income - would that count as a special circumstance for an appeal? I'll be calling Norfolk State today.
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