General Student Aid Ineligibility

• If you were given a declaration that you are ineligible for a Pell Grant, it might be because you did not meet the general student aid eligibility requirements. Requirements are that you are a United States citizen with a Social Security number and you demonstrate financial need. You will need to submit your financial information found on tax returns, including your parents' income information if you are unmarried and under 25 years old. Failing to meet any of these requirements or neglecting to include any of this information makes you ineligible.
  
  

Good Standing

• If you are not a freshman in college and applied for a Pell Grant but was denied, you may not be in good academic standing with your school or have not satisfactorily progressed in your degree pursuits. Another possibility is that you are in default with a previous student loan, which will automatically make you ineligible for any further student financial aid, including the Pell Grant, until you remedy the situation and are back on track with your previous loan repayments.
  
  

School Participation

• Not every institute of higher learning participates in the Pell Grant program. This is particularly important because the Pell Grant is typically dispersed directly to the school to pay for your educational expenses instead of going through the student. If you go to a school that does not participate in the program, you are automatically ineligible for receiving the Pell Grant.
  
  

Degree Program

• Pell Grants are usually only awarded to students who demonstrate financial need for assistance while pursuing their first college degree. If you are pursuing a second bachelor's degree or an advanced degree, you will not be eligible for the Pell Grant. The only exception is those students enrolled at least half-time in pursuit of a higher education as a means to a state licensing program such as those for teachers.