Federal Grants

JCU helps administer and facilitate four different Federal grant programs for our students.  All of these programs require that the student files a Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) to establish need and eligibility.

Federal Pell Grants
The Federal Pell Grant Program is designed to assist students demonstrating financial need to obtain a higher education. The maximum Pell Grant award for the 2007-08 award year (July 1, 2007 to June 30, 2008) is $4,310. The maximum award for the 2008-09 award year (July 1, 2008 to June 30, 2009) is $4,731. The maximum can change each award year and depends on program funding.

Academic Competitiveness Grant (ACG)
An Academic Competitiveness Grant provides up to $750 for the first year of undergraduate study and $1,300 for the second year of undergraduate study to full-time students who are U.S citizens, eligible for a Federal Pell Grant, and who had successfully completed a [rigorous high school program], as determined by the state or local education agency and recognized by the Secretary of Education. Second year students must also have maintained a cumulative grade point average (GPA) of at least 3.0. The program is available for the first time for the 2006-07 school year for first year students who graduated from high school after January 1, 2006 and for second year students who graduated from high school after January 1, 2005. The Academic Competitiveness Grant award is in addition to the student's Pell Grant award.

National Science and Mathematics Access to Retain Talent Grant (SMART)
A National SMART Grant provides $4,000 for each of the third and fourth years of undergraduate study to full-time students who are U.S. citizens, eligible for a Federal Pell Grant, and majoring in physical, life, or computer sciences, mathematics, technology, engineering or in a foreign language determined critical to national security. The student must also have maintained a cumulative grade point average (GPA) of at least 3.0 in coursework required for the major. The National SMART Grant award is in addition to the student's Pell Grant award.

Federal Supplemental Educational Opportunity Grant Program
The Federal Supplemental Educational Opportunity Grant Program (SEOG) is administered to students of exceptional financial need who without the grant would be unable to continue their education.

TEACH Grant
The Teacher Education Assistance for College and Higher Education (TEACH) Grant Program provides grants of up to $4,000 per year to students who intend to teach in a public or private elementary or secondary school that serves students from low-income families. The first TEACH Grants will be awarded to eligible students for the
2008-2009 school year.
As a recipient of a TEACH Grant, you must teach for at least four academic years within eight calendar years of completing the program of study for which you received a TEACH Grant. IMPORTANT: If you fail to complete this service obligation, all amounts of the TEACH Grants that you received will be converted to a Federal Direct Unsubsidized Stafford Loan. You must then repay this loan to the U.S. Department of Education. You will be charged interest from the date the grant(s) was disbursed.

More detailed information about the TEACH grant is available online at http://www.studentaid.ed.gov/PORTALSWebApp/students/english/TEACH.jsp