Pell Grant Lifetime Eligibility Used
The amount of Federal Pell Grant funds you may receive over your lifetime is limited by federal law to be the equivalent of six years (or 12 semesters) of Pell Grant funding. Since the amount of a scheduled Pell Grant award you can receive each award year is equal to 100%, the six-year equivalent is 600%.
To see your Lifetime Eligibility Used (LEU) percentage, log in to studentaid.gov with your FSA ID and password, then navigate to “My Aid” (upper right corner).
How is your Pell Grant Lifetime Eligibility Used calculated?
Scheduled Award: The maximum amount of Federal Pell Grant funding you can receive is calculated for an “award year.” An award year is a period from July 1 of one calendar year to June 30 of the next calendar year. Your “scheduled award” is partially determined by using either your expected family contribution (EFC) from the 2023-2024 FAFSA or Student Aid Index (SAI) from the 2024-2025 FAFSA. Your scheduled award is the maximum amount you would be able to receive for the award year if you were enrolled full-time for the full school year and represents 100% of your Pell Grant eligibility for that award year.
Percent Used: To determine how much of the maximum six years (600%) of Pell Grant you have used each year, the Department of Education compares the actual amount you received for the award year with your scheduled award amount for that award year. If you received the full amount of your scheduled award, you will have used 100%. It is possible that you might not receive your entire scheduled award for an award year. There are a few reasons for this, the most common of which are that you are not enrolled for the full year or that you are not enrolled full-time, or both.
We calculate the percentage of the scheduled award that you did receive. For example, if your scheduled award for an award year was $5,000, but because you were enrolled for only one semester you received only $2,500, you would have received 50% of the scheduled award for that award year. Or if you received only $3,750 for the award year because you were enrolled three quarter-time and not full-time, you would have received 75% for that year.
In certain situations, it is possible that you may be eligible to receive up to 150% of your scheduled award for an award year. For example, if your scheduled award is $5,000 for the award year and you received $7,500 because you were enrolled full-time in the fall, spring, and summer semesters, you would have received 150% of the scheduled award for that award year.
Lifetime Eligibility Used (LEU): The Department of Education keeps track of your LEU by adding together the percentages of your Pell Grant scheduled awards that you received for each award year. If your LEU equals or exceeds 600%, you may no longer receive Pell Grant funding. Similarly, if your LEU is greater than 500% but less than 600%, while you will be eligible for a Pell Grant for the next award year, you will not be able to receive a full scheduled award.
Visit the Student Aid website for examples of Pell LEU.
If you have questions regarding your Pell Grant or the LEU, please contact your financial aid counselor.