College Grants 2026-27: Pell, Workforce Pell, FSEOG, TEACH and State Aid
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This is the one grant category where the federal government does pay individuals, and 2026-27 is the year the rules changed the most since the FAFSA was rebuilt. A new Pell Grant for short programs started July 1, 2026. Two new ineligibility rules started the same day. Most pages that rank for "college grants" were written before either. Every figure below comes from Federal Student Aid's own handbook and notices, with the award year stated.
The Federal Pell Grant: $7,395 for 2026-27
The maximum Pell Grant for July 1, 2026 through June 30, 2027 is $7,395 and the minimum is $740, unchanged from 2025-26. Pell is paid to your school and applied to your bill, with any remainder refunded to you. It does not have to be repaid unless you withdraw early.
Who gets the maximum. Since the 2024-25 rebuild, eligibility for the maximum is decided by income, family size and the poverty guideline rather than by a formula alone. For 2026-27 a dependent student gets the maximum if the parents were not required to file a federal return, or if their adjusted gross income plus any foreign earned income exclusion is at or below 225% of the poverty guideline (single parent) or 175% (two parents). Independent students apply the same tests to themselves. A minimum award reaches further up the scale, to 325% for a dependent student with a single parent and 400% for an independent single parent. In between, the Student Aid Index sets the amount; the SAI can go as low as negative 1,500.
The lifetime limit. Six full Scheduled Awards, tracked as 600% of Lifetime Eligibility Used. A full-time year uses 100%. Part-time study is prorated by enrollment intensity: seven of twelve credits is 58%, and the award is 58% of the full-time amount.
What changed on July 1, 2026
The law signed on July 4, 2025, which the Department of Education now calls the Working Families Tax Cuts Act and whose proposed rule called it the One Big Beautiful Bill, made three changes to Pell for the 2026-27 award year.
- Workforce Pell. Pell now pays for programs that run at least 8 but fewer than 15 weeks and 150 to 599 clock hours (4 to 15 semester hours, or 6 to 23 quarter hours), provided the Department approves the program. The final rule was published May 19, 2026, schools could apply for approval from July 1, 2026, and the first approved program was in Iowa. If a certificate course you wanted was too short for aid, check whether the school has applied.
- The SAI ceiling. A student whose Student Aid Index is at least twice the maximum Pell award, $14,790 for 2026-27, is ineligible regardless of other factors. There are exceptions for children of servicemembers and public safety officers who died in the line of duty.
- Other grant aid. A student whose grants and scholarships from non-federal sources equal or exceed the cost of attendance cannot receive Pell for that year. Foreign earned income excluded from tax is now added back to income for the Pell tests.
The other federal grants
| Grant | 2026-27 amount | Who |
|---|---|---|
| FSEOG | $100 to $4,000 a year (up to $4,400 for study abroad) | Pell recipients with the lowest SAI first, then other low-SAI students; the school decides, and funds run out |
| TEACH Grant | $3,772 after the 5.70% sequester cut, through September 30, 2027 | Students in teaching programs who agree to four years in a high-need field at a low-income school; converts to a loan if not completed |
| Pell special rule (formerly Iraq and Afghanistan Service Grant) | Maximum Pell regardless of SAI | Students under 33 whose parent or guardian died in military or public safety service after September 11, 2001; folded into Pell from 2024-25 |
| Federal Work-Study | A part-time job at no less than the federal minimum wage | Undergraduate and graduate students with need; the school runs it |
State grants, and the two biggest
Most states run a grant program that stacks on Pell, and most of them have their own deadline that falls well before the federal one. Two examples with 2026-27 figures from the agencies themselves. California's Cal Grant A pays tuition and fees of $15,588 at the University of California, $6,838 at California State University and $9,358 at a private nonprofit, with Cal Grant B adding a $1,648 access award in the first year. New York's Tuition Assistance Program pays $1,000 to $5,665 a year, with an income limit of $125,000 net taxable income for dependent undergraduates and a June 30, 2027 deadline for 2026-27. Your state's program is found through your state higher education agency; the FAFSA is the application for nearly all of them.
The FAFSA dates
The 2026-27 FAFSA opened on September 24, 2025, which the Department of Education called the earliest launch in the program's history. The 2027-28 form went into beta testing on August 5, 2026 and is due to be public by October 1, 2026; beta submissions count as real applications. Filing early matters because FSEOG, work-study and many state grants are first-come. The federal deadline for 2026-27 runs to the end of June 2027, but a school's own deadline is the one that decides your package.
What Grants.gov and the FTC want you to know
Grants.gov does not fund students: "few are available to individuals, and none provide personal financial assistance." The FAFSA is free at studentaid.gov, and the FTC's list of scholarship scam lines reads like a script: "The scholarship is guaranteed or your money back," "You can't get this information anywhere else," "I just need your credit card or bank account number to hold this scholarship," "We'll do all the work. You just pay a processing fee." Never share your FSA ID. For students with a conviction, the Pell rules that changed in 2023 are on grants for felons; for veterans, the GI Bill figures are on grants for veterans.
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Sources
- FSA: 2026-27 Pell Grant maximum and minimum award amounts
- FSA Handbook 2026-27, Vol. 7 Ch. 2: calculating Pell Grants
- FSA Handbook 2026-27, Vol. 7 Ch. 3: enrollment intensity
- FSA Handbook 2026-27, Vol. 7 Ch. 8: lifetime eligibility used
- Federal Register: Workforce Pell final rule (May 19, 2026)
- FSA: effective dates, Workforce Pell and Pell ineligibility (Jun 4, 2026)
- FSA: 2026-27 FAFSA and Pell eligibility updates (Aug 15, 2025)
- FSA Handbook 2026-27, Vol. 6 Ch. 6: FSEOG
- FSA: FY27 sequester changes (TEACH Grant)
- FSA: FAFSA Simplification Act changes for 2024-25 (SAI, special rule)
- ED: earliest FAFSA launch (2026-27)
- FSA: 2027-28 FAFSA beta testing plan
- CSAC: 2026-27 Cal Grant comparison
- NY HESC: Tuition Assistance Program
- FTC: scholarship and financial aid scams
Common questions
What is the maximum Pell Grant for 2026-27?
$7,395, for the award year July 1, 2026 through June 30, 2027; the minimum award is $740. That is the same maximum as 2025-26. Federal Student Aid published the figure under a continuing resolution in January 2026 and said it would revise it if Congress changed the amount; no revision had been published at our last check.
Who gets the maximum Pell Grant?
For 2026-27, a dependent student qualifies for the maximum if the parents were not required to file a federal tax return, or if their adjusted gross income (plus any foreign earned income exclusion) is at or below 225% of the poverty guideline for a single parent or 175% otherwise. Independent students use the same tests on their own income. Everyone else is placed on a sliding scale by the Student Aid Index.
What is Workforce Pell?
A new Pell Grant for short training programs, in effect from July 1, 2026. The program must run at least 8 but fewer than 15 weeks and 150 to 599 clock hours (or 4 to 15 semester hours), and it must be approved by the Department of Education. Schools could start applying for approval on July 1, 2026; the first approved program was in Iowa.
Can I lose Pell eligibility even with a low income?
Two new rules for 2026-27. A student whose Student Aid Index is at least twice the maximum Pell award, $14,790, is ineligible. And a student whose non-federal grants and scholarships already equal or exceed the full cost of attendance cannot receive Pell. Foreign earned income now counts toward the income tests.
When is the FAFSA due?
The 2026-27 FAFSA opened on September 24, 2025, the earliest launch in the program's history. The 2027-28 form is due to be public by October 1, 2026 after beta testing that began August 5, 2026. State and college deadlines come much earlier than the federal one; New York's TAP deadline for 2026-27, for example, is June 30, 2027. The form is free at studentaid.gov, and any site charging to file it is not the government.
Is the TEACH Grant still $4,000?
On paper. Sequestration cuts it 5.70%, or $228, to $3,772 for awards first disbursed between October 1, 2025 and September 30, 2027, according to the FY26 and FY27 notices. It converts to a loan if you do not complete four years of qualifying teaching within eight years.
Gov-Grants.org is an independent guide, not a carrier and not a government agency. We never charge fees, and every fact above links to its source with the date we checked it. Program details change; confirm on the official site before applying.