Federal Grants
Federal Pell Grant (PELL) and Supplemental Education Opportunity Grant (SEOG)
Pell Grants are awarded only to undergraduate students who have not earned a bachelor's degree. Eligibility for the Federal Pell Grant is partially determined by the number of credit hours in which you are enrolled during the semester. Del Mar College's award letters show student eligibility for Federal Pell Grant funds for eligible students assuming that the students will take at least 12 credit hours per semester.
Financial Aid Services adjusts the amount of Pell Grant that students receive if the number of credit hours that students are enrolled in changes through the census date of each semester. For more information on eligibility requirements, please refer to the sections that follow.
Award Amounts
Awards are based on your Expected Family Contribution (EFC) as determined by the FAFSA and by your level of enrollment. How much you may receive will depend on your EFC, your cost of attendance, your enrollment status and whether you attend school for a full academic year. You may only receive Pell Grant funds from one institution at a time.
Pell eligible students can now receive up to 150% of their award to use during the fall, spring and summer of each award year.
Enrollment Levels and Equivalent Credit Hours
| Levels of Enrollment |
Equivalent Credit Hours |
| Full Time |
12 or more credit hours |
| Three-Quarters Time |
9–11 credit hours |
| Half Time |
6–8 credit hours |
| Less Than Half Time |
5 or less credit hours |
Eligibility
To determine if you are eligible, the U.S. Department of Education (ED) established a standard formula to evaluate the information you report when you apply. The formula produces an Expected Family Contribution (EFC) number. The lower the EFC number, the more aid you are eligible for. Your Student Aid Report (SAR) and the Institutional Student Information Record (ISIR) contain this number and will tell you if you are eligible.
The following are the basic eligibility requirements to be considered for Federal Aid (Title IV programs):
- Complete a Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA)
- Meet all ED eligibility requirements including but not limited to:
- Demonstrate financial need
- High School Equivalency Program (GED, HiSET & TASC)
- Register with the Selective Services, if required
- Be a U.S. citizen or Eligible Non-citizen
- Have a valid Social Security Number
- Be enrolled or accepted for enrollment as a regular student working toward a degree or certificate in an eligible program
- Meet the standards of the DMC Satisfactory Academic Progress (SAP) Policy.
Additional Requirements
Financial Aid Services monitors requirements that can affect your eligibility for Federal Pell Grant funds, including but not limited to the following:
- Your continued enrollment within a semester. If you withdraw/are withdrawn, you may be required to repay funds awarded to you.
- Your grades. If you do not earn at least one passing grade in a semester, you may be required to repay funds awarded to you.
- Developmental courses you attempt. We may only fund 30 credit hours of developmental work (10 developmental courses) over your educational career. If a Pell eligible student attempts his/her 11th or greater developmental course, that course cannot be counted in the student’s enrollment status.
- Repeated Coursework. The definition of a full-time student was amended to allow repeated coursework to count toward enrollment status in term-based programs.
- Lifetime Eligibility Used. Students may only receive a Pell Grant for six years of full-time enrollment (equivalent to 12 semesters or 600%) during their lifetime. This change affects all students regardless of when or where they received their first Pell Grant.
- Unusual Enrollment History. New regulations have been established to prevent fraud and abuse in the Federal Pell Grant Program by identifying students with unusual enrollment histories. Financial Aid Services is required to review your enrollment and financial aid record to determine if, during the past four award years, you had legitimate reasons for the unusual enrollment history.
- Attendance Verification. Eligibility to receive Title IV aid is partially determined by the number of classes that you attend; you cannot receive aid for classes in which you are registered but do not attend at least once.
Fund Disbursements
DMC will credit Pell Grant funds to your school account to pay for tuition, fees and other school related costs which appear on your student account (institutional charges). If you are eligible for funds in excess of your institutional charges, after completing eligibility verification, DMC will pay you the difference via the refund preference of your choice. As a registered student, you will receive a refund selection kit with instructions on choosing how you want to receive your financial aid or course refunds. All financial aid funds and refunds will be disbursed according to your refund choice. Your options for receiving your refunds are electronic deposit to an existing bank account or a paper check to be mailed to the address you have on file with the Admissions Office.
Book allowance and final refund release dates are provided to students before the start of each semester; these dates are available on the Financial Aid Refund Dates section of the Del Mar College website (https://www.delmar.edu/becoming-a-viking/afford/disbursement.html).
Students' eligibility for the Federal Pell Grant takes time. Financial Aid Services must confirm, through an enrollment verification process that all students have attended all of the courses that they have enrolled in. The enrollment verification takes place after census date of each semester and may take up to three weeks.
Can I receive a Federal Pell Grant if I am enrolled less than half-time?
Yes, if your EFC is low enough to be eligible. You will not receive as much as if you were enrolled full time, but DMC will disburse your Pell Grant funds in accordance with your enrollment status.