Content Areas

To earn this credential, you will need know the eligibility requirements, the calculation process, and the principles for determining eligibility. You also will need to know the five regulatory formulas and additional considerations that impact a student’s Federal Pell Grant amount, such as reduced academic years, crossover payment periods, summer sessions, transfer students, and grant recalculations. This will help you demonstrate the ability to accurately and appropriately award these funds to eligible students, thereby ensuring the equitable distribution of federal financial aid funding.  

The range of topics in this test include:

• General Concepts of the Federal Pell Grant Program
• Selecting the Appropriate Formula: Term-Based Programs
• Selecting the Appropriate Formula: Clock-Hour and Nonterm Credit-Hour Programs
• Additional Considerations

Tests may include questions pertaining to a variety of program structures, such as credit- or clock-hour, term or nonterm, standard or nonstandard term, undergraduate or graduate/professional programs, and programs of various length (shorter than one year, two-year, four-year, certificate, etc.).

Sample Test Questions

All tests will include a combination of multiple-choice and scenario-based questions. Some questions may involve viewing or downloading worksheets, charts, and tables. Please ensure you have a calculator available while taking a credential test.

Review the following examples, which are similar in structure and scope to the questions that will appear on the test for this topic. Check your answers by selecting the question's link.

1. For Federal Pell Grant purposes, a payment period beginning before July 1 and ending on or after July 1 of the same calendar year is a

• module.
• mini-session.
• nonstandard term.
• crossover payment period.

2. Which one of the following types of programs must use Pell Formula 3?

• Clock-hour programs
• Nonterm credit-hour programs
• Nonstandard term programs
• Standard term programs

3. For term-based credit-hour programs, the school must recalculate Federal Pell Grant awards under each of the following circumstances, EXCEPT when

• the SAI changes as a result of verification, updates, corrections, or professional judgment adjustments to applicant data.
• the cost of attendance changes, but enrollment status does not change.
• actual or projected enrollment changes between terms in the same award year.
• projected enrollment status changes during the payment period, and before the student begins attendance in all classes.

Recommended Resources

Prepare for this test by reviewing related content in resources such as:

• Higher Education Act of 1965, as amended (view U.S Code Title 20, Chapter 28)
• Federal regulations (view NASFAA’s Compiled Title IV Regulations)
• U.S. Department of Education guidance:
  
  • Dear Colleague Letters
  • Electronic Announcements
  • Federal Student Aid Handbook
  • Search for "FAFSA Specifications Guide" in the FSA Knowledge Center
• Student Aid Reference Desk

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