Everyone believes that education is the only hope to save young people from the grips of poverty and dire straits. Nevertheless, not everyone is fortunate enough to get through school. Some families are too hard up with parents barely able to make ends meet that sending college-age kids to school is the least of their priorities.
For this reason, President Lyndon B. Johnson signed into law the Basic Educational Opportunity Grant (BEOG), which would eventually become the Pell Grant of the U.S. Department of Education on November 8, 1965. The grant was covered by legislation titled “Higher Education Act of 1965.”
What Is Pell Grant, and How Does it Work?
A Rhode Island senator named Claiborne Pell was the inspiration behind Pell Grant. Pell was the one who sponsored the 1972 bill that amended the BEOG, which provides monetary aid that funds American college students. The BEOG was eventually renamed Pell Grant to honor Pell’s efforts in education legislation.
The Department of Education determines a student’s need and uses it as the foundation of a students’ basic financial aid package. Nevertheless, the Department may choose to add other forms of aid to the package. The evaluation process of how much the Expected Family Contribution (EFC) can be is based on the submitted information through the Free Application for Federal Student Aid or FAFSA.
So, you now have an idea of how the Pell Grant came to be, but what is it? Why are so many students clamoring to obtain this type of grant? Before you decide whether you should apply for it or choose to buy degree on line instead, let us discuss what a Pell Grant is.
The Pell Grant is a post-secondary educational Federal grant or program enacted to financially assist low-income American families in sending high school to college. The Pell Grant is not like your typical student loan in that you do not need to pay it back. However, some circumstances may require you to pay the grant back. We will discuss the reasons why you might have to pay it back later. In the meantime, let us continue discussing what a Pell Grant is.
Pell Grant is usually intended for students who want to earn a bachelor’s degree. In some cases, students who are pursuing a post-baccalaureate teacher certification program may also receive a Federal Pell Grant. The students may opt to use their Pell Grant in any of the 5,400 participating academic institutions offering baccalaureate degrees. The program helps millions of students each academic year, and for the academic year 2019-2020, some 6.7 million students benefited from Pell Grant.
What Is Pell Grant eligibility?
Because Pell Grant is financial aid to handicapped families, the burden of proof is on the applicant. Hence, if you want to be eligible for the grant, you must show that you need and deserve the assistance. The EFC is used to assess the financial ability of your family. To qualify for the grant, the EFC must reflect that your family’s ability to send you to college or university is not there.
The EFC is established using indicators such as the family’s size, the gross family income, the family’s assets, and the number of students enrolled in college. Factors like the age of the parents, their work, and other related factors are also considered. The EFC is a mathematical value derived using a formula and all these indicators. The lower the EFC, the higher is the chance of getting a Pell Grant. Usually, an EFC score of 4,617 or lower makes one eligible for the grant.
To fully satisfy the requirements, you need to fill out the FAFSA application form, which you can access through several websites. The grant is available to any U.S. citizen or an eligible non-citizen who has not yet earned a baccalaureate degree. You must be eligible for post-secondary education, being a high school graduate or a GED. Finally, you must also be able to prove that you stand to benefit from the program.
Because it seems tedious for many, they would rather buy degree on line than go through the entire process. You may decide on it, too, after finding out more about Pell Grant. At any rate, it would help if you try to understand how it can help you.
What Is Pell Grant Benefit?
The amount of the grant is variable between years and between beneficiaries. For the academic year 2020-2021 and 2021-2022, the maximum budget has been fixed at $6,495. Your financial need, the cost of attendance, your student status (full-time or part-time), and your plan to attend school for a full academic year or less determine the grant’s amount.
American students can prevent themselves from slipping into the quagmire of poverty and uncertainty by taking advantage of what Pell Grant can offer. If you are a high school graduate who sincerely wants to earn a college degree, this is an excellent opportunity for you.
Pell Grant Ineligibility
We mentioned earlier that while you do not need to repay a Pell Grant, there are instances when you may be required to pay it back. Why is that? There are requirements for maintaining eligibility that you must meet. However, these requirements vary from one program to another. Here are some reasons you may have to repay all or a portion of the grant:
- Early withdrawal from the program for which you were given the grant
- You changed your enrollment status (switching from full-time to part-time), which may significantly reduce your eligibility for the grant
- An outside entity gave you a scholarship or grant that reduced your need for federal financial assistance
Should you lose eligibility for the Pell Grant, your school will notify you that you need to repay a portion of the grant. They will give you 45 days to pay it back. You have the option to pay in full, make a partial payment, or make repayment arrangements where you will need to pay the debt back to the Department of Education or directly to the school.
Failure to carry out any of the payment options mentioned above may result in you losing your eligibility for any future federal student aid.
Pell Grant Assistance and Law School
Now that you have a deeper understanding of what Pell Grant is, undoubtedly, you would want to find out how you can use said assistance in achieving your dreams. Still, it would be best if you keep an open mind and explore other options beyond qualifying for a Pell Grant. Despite what you may want to think, there could be others out there who desperately need and are more eligible for the grant than you are. If that is the case, perhaps you will be better off if you buy degree on line instead.
If you click this over here now, you will see that you can purchase degrees online for any course or major imaginable, including law. There are legitimate providers of said degrees affiliated with prominent universities, which means the degrees they offer are genuine, authentic, and verifiable with the issuing university. It is an option worth considering if you want to get a law degree but are unsure of financial aid availability.
For instance, you may be dreaming of becoming a lawyer in the future. It is no secret that law school is expensive, and it takes a long time before you can become a practicing lawyer. It is a costly course, but at the same time, it is a lucrative profession. Hence, you may want to know if Pell Grant assists students who wish to become lawyers.
Having a Pell Grant is indeed a cheap opportunity to become a lawyer. Unfortunately, Pell Grant only assists high school graduates in enrolling and finishing a bachelor’s degree. Since it is a postgraduate degree, it is not among the options open to students under the program. Hence, a Pell Grant for law school assistance is definitely out of the question.
Still, there are other options to help you go to law school even if you can’t afford it. Here are some of those:
- You could find gainful employment after college to go to a law school after office hours or during weekends. You could also enroll in a relevant bachelor’s degree and find a related job in a law firm to start a lawyer’s career path. If you happen to land a job in a legal office with a development program for its employees and you happen to impress your bosses, they might offer you some financial assistance to enroll in a law school.
- If you want to be a full-time professional student, you can look for some scholarships to help you finish your goal. One of these is the Legal Opportunity Scholarship Fund, which the American Bar Association sponsors. The scholarship provides 20 scholars $15,000 throughout their studies in law school. This scholarship is specially designed to encourage ethnically and racially diverse candidates to access law schools and provide equal opportunities to all. If you are interested, visit their website for more information.
- Another scholarship program is the so-called Equal Justice Works Fellowship Program. This scholarship is intended to bring in additional lawyers into the practice to serve society’s marginalized sectors. This program offers qualified and successful applicants a salary and loan repayment assistance for loans made to finish law. They assist law students technically and financially as well as prop them to practice in specific target areas.
Qualifying for a Pell Grant is a welcome respite from the enormous expenses you have to deal with every day. Nevertheless, to buy degrees online is the best solution if you want to enjoy a lucrative career as a lawyer without going through an entirely tedious process.