Federal Grants for Undergraduates
Grants are often called “gift aid”—financial aid that doesn’t have to be repaid, except under certain circumstances. See below for the different types of federal grants for undergraduate students.
The CARES Act establishes a $30.75 billion Education Stabilization Fund that is composed of the Governor’s Emergency Relief Fund, the Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief Fund, and the Higher Education Emergency Relief Fund (HEERF).
Learn More About the CARES ActPell Grants are the foundation of federal student financial aid to which aid from other federal and nonfederal sources may be added. Federal grants are awarded to undergraduate students who haven’t earned a bachelor’s or graduate degree. Pell grants are available at all CUNY colleges, but the college you plan to attend must be listed on your FAFSA. Almost all federal grants are awarded to students with financial need. The amount of your Federal Pell Grant depends on your cost of attendance, expected family contribution, enrollment status and whether you attend school for a full academic year or less.
Application Form
The FAFSA is the application that is used for federal government grants.
Residency and Citizenship
You must be a citizen of the United States or eligible non-citizen.
Award Amounts
For the 2021-2022 academic year a Pell Grant ranges from $672 to $6,495 a year, depending on your family income and other factors. If you are eligible for a Pell Grant it is possible to receive an award as either a part-time or full-time student.
Qualifying Programs and Credits
- You must be accepted for admission to a degree seeking eligible program.
- Pell Grant can be awarded if you are registered for as few as one equated credit.
Pursuit and Progress
You must be in good academic standing and make satisfactory progress towards completing a degree.
Additional Information on Pell
- Students will be limited to a maximum of 12 terms of full-time Pell payments or its equivalent for part-time study.
- Pell is for students pursuing undergraduate degrees only.
- You may not be in default on a previous federal student loan or owe the federal government a refund of financial aid previously received.
- You must be willing to verify the information you provide on the FAFSA.
- If you are male between 18 and 25 years of age you must register with Selective Service.
- You may not be convicted of possessing or selling illegal drugs while receiving financial aid.
FSEOG is a campus-based program for which CUNY uses federal funds. If you demonstrate exceptional financial need, CUNY may award you a FSEOG Grant from the limited funds available.
Application Form
The FAFSA is the application that is used for federal government grants.
Residency and Citizenship
You must be a citizen of the United States or an eligible non-citizen.
Qualifying Program and credits
- You must be accepted for admission to a degree-seeking program.
- You must register for at least six equated credits.
- You must be Pell eligible.
- Available to students who have not completed a bachelor’s degree.
Additional Information on FSEOG
- You must be in good academic standing and make satisfactory progress towards completing a degree.
- You may not be in default on a previous federal student loan or owe the federal government a refund of financial aid previously received.
- You must be willing to verify the information you provide on the FAFSA.
- If you are male between 18 and 25 years of age you must register with Selective Service.
- You may not possess or sell illegal drugs while receiving financial aid.
Pell Grants for Summer Terms
Funding for Year-Round Pell has been reinstated. This means that students can receive additional Pell for summer terms within the academic year. This can allow you to stay on track for graduation or even to complete your bachelor’s degree early. However, to earn your remaining Pell Grant you have to be registered for at least six credits during the summer.
The program is known as Year Round Pell and students may receive a Pell Grant for up to 150 percent of their scheduled award. For example if you are awarded $6,495 for the year, then under the Year Round Pell program students may receive up to $3,247.50 for attending college in the summer.
Students taking less than 6 credits during the summer, may be eligible for a Pell Grant awards if they have filed the upcoming year’s FAFSA, are Pell eligible and have remaining Pell Lifetime Eligibility Usage (LEU) left.
To be eligible for a summer Pell Grant, you must:
- Have completed a FAFSA
- Be Pell Grant eligible
- Enroll in summer classes
- Enroll at least 6 credit hours
- Be meeting Satisfactory Academic Progress (SAP)
- Have lifetime Pell Grant eligibility remaining
Lifetime Pell Eligibility
The maximum time frame that students may receive a Pell Grant is equivalent of 12 full-time semesters or 600 percent. Summer Pell awards will apply towards the Lifetime Eligibility Used (LEU). One full-time semester of a Pell award is equal to 50 percent. To check your remaining Pell, log onto https://nslds.ed.gov using your FSA ID. The federal government measures this in the following manner:
If a Pell Grant is disbursed in a semester:
| Credits Attempted | Lifetime Eligibility Used |
| Full-time enrollment (12 credits or more) | 50.0% |
| Three Quarters time enrollment (9-11 credits) | 37.5% |
| Half-time enrollment (6-8 credits) | 25.0% |
| Quarter-time enrollment (3-5 credits) | 12.5% |
Minimum Credits for Summer Pell
- If you enrolled full-time (12+ credits) and received the full-time Pell Grant amount for fall and spring, you must enroll at least half-time (6 credits) in summer classes to receive the remainder summer Pell Grant.
- If you enrolled part-time fall or spring, there is no minimum credit requirement to receive a summer Pell Grant. You can use the remainder of your annual Pell Grant amount during summer with no minimum credit requirement.
Examples of How Year Round Pell Works
Below are various scenarios in which a student is awarded Year-Round Pell based on receiving the maximum Pell Grant (0 EFC) of $6,495 for the 2021-2022 academic year.
Student 1
| Term | Fall | Spring | Summer |
| Credits Taken | 12 credits (full time) | 12 credits (full time) | 6 credits |
| Pell Award | $3247.50 | $3247.50 | $1624.00 |
| LEU Used | 50% | 50% | 25% |
Student 2
| Term | Fall | Spring | Summer |
| Credits Taken | 12 credits (full time) | 9 credits (3/4 time) | 6 credits |
| Pell Award | $3247.50 | $2435.50 | $1624.00 |
| LEU Used | 50% | 37% | 25% |
Student 3
| Term | Fall | Spring | Summer |
| Credits Taken | 12 credits (full time) | 12 credits (full time) | 12 credits |
| Pell Award | $3247.50 | $3247.50 | $1624.00 |
| LEU Used | 50% | 50% | 50% |
Student 4
| Term | Summer | Fall | Spring | Summer |
| Credits Taken | 3 credits | 12 credits | 12 credits | 6 credits |
| Pell Award | $812.00 | $3247.50 | $3247.50 | $1624.00 |
| LEU Used | 12.5% | 50% | 50% | 25% |
The TEACH Grant Program provides grants up to $4,000 a year to students who are completing or plan to complete course work needed to begin a career in teaching.
As required by the Budget Control Act of 2011 (the sequester law), any TEACH Grant that is first disbursed on or after Oct. 1, 2019 and before Oct. 1, 2020, must be reduced by 5.9 percent from the award amount for which a recipient would otherwise have been eligible; and any TEACH Grant that is first disbursed on or after Oct. 1, 2020, and before Oct. 1, 2021, must be reduced by 5.7 percent from the award amount for which a recipient would otherwise have been eligible. For example:
- For any 2019–20 or TEACH Grant first disbursed on or after Oct. 1, 2019, and before Oct. 1, 2020, the maximum award of $4,000 is reduced by 5.9 percent ($236), resulting in a maximum award of $3,764.
- For any 2020–21 TEACH Grant first disbursed on or after Oct. 1, 2020, and before Oct. 1, 2021, the maximum award of $4,000 is reduced by 5.7 percent ($228), resulting in a maximum award of $3,772.
As a condition for receiving a TEACH Grant, you must sign a TEACH Grant Agreement to Serve in which you agree to (among other requirements) teach:
- in a high-need field;
- at an elementary school, secondary school, or educational service agency that serves students from low-income families; and
- for at least four complete academic years within eight years after completing (or ceasing enrollment in) the course of study for which you received the grant.
Note: If you do not meet the requirements of your service obligation, all TEACH Grants you received will be converted to Direct Unsubsidized Loans. You must repay these loans in full, with interest charged from the date of each TEACH Grant disbursement.
ED is finalizing a process that will provide an opportunity for certain TEACH Grant recipients whose TEACH Grants were converted to Direct Unsubsidized Loans to request reconsideration of the conversions. You will be able to request a reconsideration if you met or are meeting the TEACH Grant service requirements within the eight-year service obligation period, but had your grants converted to loans because you did not comply with the annual certification requirement. Once we complete our process work, we plan to update this page with instructions on how to apply for reconsideration of your converted TEACH Grants.
To be eligible for a TEACH Grant, you must do the following:
- Meet the basic eligibility criteria for the federal student aid programs.
- Complete the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA).
- At CUNY be enrolled as an eligible senior level (4th year) undergraduate, post-baccalaureate, or graduate student at a school that participates in the TEACH Grant Program.
- Be enrolled in a TEACH-Grant-eligible program.
- Meet certain academic achievement requirements (generally, scoring above the 75th percentile on one or more portions of a college admissions test or maintaining a cumulative GPA of at least 3.25). For specific information about the academic requirements, talk to the financial aid office at your college or career school.
- Receive TEACH Grant counseling that explains the terms and conditions of the TEACH Grant service obligation. You must complete counseling each year that you receive a TEACH Grant.
- Sign a TEACH Grant Agreement to Serve.
Teach Grant Eligible Program
A TEACH-Grant-eligible program is a program of study that is designed to prepare you to teach as a highly qualified teacher in a high-need field and that leads to a bachelor’s or master’s degree, or is a post-baccalaureate program. A post-baccalaureate program is not TEACH-Grant-eligible if it is offered by a school that also offers a bachelor’s degree in education.
Schools that participate in the TEACH Grant Program determine which of the programs they offer are TEACH-Grant-eligible. A program that is TEACH-Grant-eligible at one school might not be TEACH-Grant-eligible at another school. Additionally, even if a program meets the eligibility requirements to be a TEACH-Grant-eligible program, it may not be designated as TEACH-Grant-eligible by the school. Contact the financial aid office at the school you are attending (or that you plan to attend) to find out which programs at that school are eligible.
High-need fields:
- bilingual education and English language acquisition,
- foreign language,
- mathematics,
- reading specialist,
- science, and
- special education, as well as
- any other field that has been identified as high-need by the federal government, a state government, or a local education agency, and that is included in the annual Teacher Shortage Area Nationwide Listing (Nationwide List).
If you plan to teach in a high-need field that is included in the Nationwide List, that field must be listed for the state where you teach either at the time you begin your qualifying teaching service or at the time you received a TEACH Grant.