Year-round Pell Grant vs. Remaining Pell Grant

• Students who received Pell Grant in fall 2022 and spring 2023 while enrolled less than full time could qualify for a Remaining Pell Grant.
  • Must make satisfactory academic progress after spring 2023
  • Amount and eligibility is determined by the student's expected family contribution and fall/spring/summer enrollment.
• Students were enrolled full-time in fall 2022 and spring 2023 must
  • make satisfactory academic progress after spring 2023,
  • be enrolled in at least six credits during summer for at least six weeks, and
  • note that a student's eligibility may be affected that if they drop or withdraw to less than six credits.

• PA students must be registered for at least six credits over the course of at least five weeks’ instruction. Non-consecutive ‘mini’ terms may be combined to meet the five-week abbreviated term length requirement for the summer grant.
• Applications must be submitted via pheaa.org no later than Aug. 15.
• Summer PHEAA grants will be credited to eligible student accounts at the end of July. This funding is not received until last summer, so students must plan accordingly.
• SFS is responsible for reviewing all preliminarily eligible summer PA State Grant recipients to ensure they meet all of the PA State Grant Agency basic requirements (academic progress review, repeated coursework review, five-week enrollment requirement review, taking 50% or more of summer classwork in the classroom, etc.). Therefore, it is possible the PA State Grant Agency will preliminarily approve a student’s summer PA State Grant application prior to the school’s PHEAA requirement check
• Graduating seniors: Students who are graduating or are in their next-to-last semester, are enrolled for nine to 11 credits and receiving the PA State Grant may be eligible for a full-time summer PHEAA grant. This exception to full-time enrollment is intended to permit continued eligibility to students who normally enroll full-time but only need to complete nine to 11 credits during one of the terms of their final year of study.
• Eligible students only receive eight total semesters of Pennsylvania State Grant throughout their academic career. Using the grant during the summer semester can take away potential fall or spring eligibility later.
• PHEAA contact information
  • pheaa.org
  • 1-800-692-7392
  • [click-for-email]

Students who did not use all of their subsidized and/or unsubsidized direct loan eligibility in the fall 2022 or spring 2023 semesters may be offered the unused loan funds for summer.

Students must

• make satisfactory academic progress after spring 2023 and
• be enrolled for minimum of six credits in summer 2023.

Students who borrowed the full amount of their subsidized and/or unsubsidized loans in the 2022–2023 year may consider borrowing from a private lender. The loan term dates for a summer private loan are May–August 2023.

Students should know,

• approval is based on credit worthiness. Borrowers who do not meet the credit requirements set by the lender will need a co-signer who does meet the lender’s credit requirements; and
• lender requirements differ and loan eligibility is different from credit approval. Students should consult with the lender to ensure they meet the criteria for qualifying for a summer private loan. (Some lenders require that students be enrolled half time, make satisfactory academic progress or be enrolled in a degree-seeking program.)

Parents of students who borrowed the full amount of their Subsidized and/or Unsubsidized loans in the 2022–2023 year may consider borrowing the federal Parent PLUS loan. Summer loans are a separate application from the existing fall/spring Parent PLUS loan application. The loan term dates for a summer PLUS loan are May–August 2023.

Requirements

• Student must be dependent: under the age of 24, unmarried, no dependent children of their own, not a veteran or active duty service member, or previously declared independent in 2022–2023 for the purposes of financial aid.
• Parent must meet credit requirements or have a credit-worthy cosigner (or endorser) in order to be approved.
• Parents cannot be defaulted on any federal loans.
• Students must make satisfactory academic progress after spring 2023.
• Students must be enrolled in at least six credits over at least six weeks.

Graduate and/or professional students can apply for a Graduate PLUS loan to assist with summer costs. Summer loans are a separate application from the existing fall/spring Graduate PLUS loan application. The loan term dates for a summer PLUS loan are May–August 2023.

Requirements

• Approval is based on credit worthiness. Students who do not meet the credit requirement will need someone to co-sign the loan that meets the lender’s credit requirements.
• Make satisfactory academic progress after spring 2023
• Enrolled at least half time (4.5 credits for graduate students) for at least six weeks
• Exhausted all annual unsubsidized Direct Loan eligibility