# How much Pell Grant will I get?

Estimates your 2026-27 Federal Pell Grant from your Student Aid Index (SAI), cost of attendance and enrollment, using the $7,395 maximum award.

- Page: https://www.acalculator.org/education/pell-grant-calculator
- JSON spec: https://www.acalculator.org/education/pell-grant-calculator.json
- Version: c7d00034584a

## Default answer

Example with the default inputs (Student Aid Index (SAI) 2,000, Pell eligibility on your FAFSA From my SAI, Cost of attendance $25,000.00, Enrollment intensity 100, Terms in the year 2): With an SAI of 2,000, your 2026-27 Pell Grant is about $5,395.00 for the year, or $2,697.50 a term.

## Inputs

| Key | Label | Description |
| --- | --- | --- |
| sai | Student Aid Index (SAI) | The SAI on your FAFSA Submission Summary, from −1,500 up. |
| path | Pell eligibility on your FAFSA | Most students get a Pell Grant worked out from the SAI. Some qualify for the maximum or the minimum by an income test; the FAFSA Submission Summary says so. |
| coa | Cost of attendance | Your school’s yearly cost of attendance for Pell (tuition, fees, housing, food, books and other costs). |
| ei | Enrollment intensity | Your credits as a percent of full time, rounded to a whole percent (12 credits of 12 is 100%). |
| terms | Terms in the year | Terms in your school’s academic year, such as 2 semesters or 3 quarters. |

## Outputs

| Key | Label | Description |
| --- | --- | --- |
| annual | Pell Grant for the year | The scheduled award times your enrollment intensity. |
| perTerm | Pell Grant a term | The yearly award divided by the number of terms. |
| scheduled | Scheduled award (full time) | The award for a full-time, full-year student: the calculated amount, at most the cost of attendance. |
| calculated | Calculated Pell | $7,395 minus your SAI, at most $7,395, rounded to the nearest $5; 0 below the $740 minimum. |

## Method

Calculated Pell = $7,395 − SAI (at most $7,395), to the nearest $5, none below $740, none at an SAI of $14,790 or more; scheduled = the smaller of that and the cost of attendance; annual = scheduled × enrollment intensity; per term = annual ÷ terms.

## Assumptions

- 2026-27 award year (July 1, 2026, to June 30, 2027): maximum $7,395, minimum $740.
- Standard terms (Formula 1); clock-hour and nonstandard programs work differently.
- Your school may round payments to whole dollars; this page shows cents.
- Year-round Pell (a third term at more than 100%) and the lifetime limit of 600% are not shown.

## Worked examples

1. sai = 2,000, path = sai, coa = $25,000.00, ei = 100, terms = 2 gives calculated = $5,395.00, scheduled = $5,395.00, annual = $5,395.00, perTerm = $2,697.50. Source: GEN-26-01 (https://fsapartners.ed.gov/knowledge-center/library/dear-colleague-letters/2026-01-30/2026-27-federal-pell-grant-maximum-and-minimum-award-amounts): maximum $7,395; FSA Handbook 2026-27, Vol. 7, Ch. 2 (https://fsapartners.ed.gov/knowledge-center/fsa-handbook/2026-2027/vol7/ch2-calculating-pell-grants): Max Pell − SAI = 7,395 − 2,000 = $5,395.
2. sai = 1,004, path = sai, coa = $25,000.00, ei = 58, terms = 3 gives calculated = $6,390.00, annual = $3,706.20, perTerm = $1,235.40. Source: FSA Handbook 2026-27, Vol. 7, Ch. 2 (https://fsapartners.ed.gov/knowledge-center/fsa-handbook/2026-2027/vol7/ch2-calculating-pell-grants) (its worked example uses a $7,500 maximum: 7,500 − 1,004 = 6,496 rounds to $6,495) with the 2026-27 maximum of $7,395 from GEN-26-01: 7,395 − 1,004 = 6,391, $6,390.
3. sai = -1,500, path = sai, coa = $25,000.00, ei = 100, terms = 2 gives calculated = $7,395.00, annual = $7,395.00, perTerm = $3,697.50. Source: FSA Handbook 2026-27, Vol. 7, Ch. 2 (https://fsapartners.ed.gov/knowledge-center/fsa-handbook/2026-2027/vol7/ch2-calculating-pell-grants): a negative SAI gives no more than the maximum award of $7,395.
4. sai = 6,700, path = sai, coa = $25,000.00, ei = 100, terms = 2 gives calculated = $0.00, annual = $0.00. Source: FSA Handbook 2026-27, Vol. 7, Ch. 2 (https://fsapartners.ed.gov/knowledge-center/fsa-handbook/2026-2027/vol7/ch2-calculating-pell-grants): 7,395 − 6,700 = $695 is below the $740 minimum (GEN-26-01), so no calculated Pell Grant.
5. sai = 6,656, path = sai, coa = $25,000.00, ei = 100, terms = 2 gives calculated = $0.00, annual = $0.00. Source: FSA Handbook 2026-27, Vol. 7, Ch. 2: the minimum test (Max Pell − SAI ≥ Min Pell) comes before rounding.
6. sai = 6,655, path = sai, coa = $25,000.00, ei = 100, terms = 2 gives calculated = $740.00, annual = $740.00. Source: FSA Handbook 2026-27, Vol. 7, Ch. 2: 7,395 − 6,655 = $740 meets the minimum (GEN-26-01).
7. sai = 6,700, path = min, coa = $25,000.00, ei = 100, terms = 2 gives calculated = $740.00, annual = $740.00. Source: FSA Handbook 2026-27, Application and Verification Guide, Ch. 3: students who meet the income test get at least the minimum Pell, $740 (GEN-26-01).
8. sai = 10,000, path = max, coa = $25,000.00, ei = 75, terms = 2 gives calculated = $7,395.00, annual = $5,546.25, perTerm = $2,773.13. Source: FSA Handbook Vol. 7, Ch. 4: annual award = scheduled award × enrollment intensity: 7,395 × 0.75 = $5,546.25.
9. sai = 14,790, path = max, coa = $25,000.00, ei = 100, terms = 2 gives calculated = $0.00, annual = $0.00. Source: FSA Handbook 2026-27, Vol. 7, Ch. 2 (https://fsapartners.ed.gov/knowledge-center/fsa-handbook/2026-2027/vol7/ch2-calculating-pell-grants): an SAI equal to or greater than twice the maximum award (2 × 7,395 = 14,790) is ineligible for Pell, even with the maximum or minimum Pell income test.
10. sai = 0, path = sai, coa = $5,000.50, ei = 100, terms = 2 gives calculated = $7,395.00, scheduled = $5,000.50, annual = $5,000.50. Source: FSA Handbook 2026-27, Vol. 7, Ch. 2 (https://fsapartners.ed.gov/knowledge-center/fsa-handbook/2026-2027/vol7/ch2-calculating-pell-grants): if the rounded amount is greater than the Pell COA, the scheduled award equals the COA.

## FAQ

### What is the maximum Pell Grant for 2026-27?

The maximum Pell Grant is $7,395 for the 2026-27 award year (July 1, 2026, to June 30, 2027). The minimum is $740, which is 10% of the maximum.

### How is the Pell Grant calculated from the SAI?

Subtract your SAI from $7,395 and round to the nearest $5. If the result is less than $740 there is no calculated Pell Grant. An SAI of 2,000 gives 7,395 − 2,000 = $5,395 for a full-time student.

### What SAI qualifies for a Pell Grant?

In 2026-27 an SAI of 6,655 or less gives at least the $740 minimum. Some students also qualify for the maximum or minimum award by an income test, if their SAI is under 14,790.

### How much Pell Grant do part-time students get?

Multiply the full-time award by your enrollment intensity, the percent of full time you take. A student with $7,395 at 75% gets 7,395 × 0.75 = $5,546.25 for the year.

### Can the Pell Grant be more than my cost of attendance?

No. The scheduled award is the smaller of the calculated amount and your Pell cost of attendance.

## Sources

- U.S. Department of Education, Dear Colleague Letter GEN-26-01, 2026–27 Federal Pell Grant Maximum and Minimum Award Amounts (January 30, 2026): https://fsapartners.ed.gov/knowledge-center/library/dear-colleague-letters/2026-01-30/2026-27-federal-pell-grant-maximum-and-minimum-award-amounts (retrieved 2026-10-05)
- Federal Student Aid Handbook 2026-27, Volume 7, Chapter 2, Calculating Pell Grants: https://fsapartners.ed.gov/knowledge-center/fsa-handbook/2026-2027/vol7/ch2-calculating-pell-grants (retrieved 2026-10-05)
- Federal Student Aid Handbook 2026-27, Volume 7, Chapter 3, Pell Grant Enrollment Intensity and Cost of Attendance: https://fsapartners.ed.gov/knowledge-center/fsa-handbook/2026-2027/vol7/ch3-pell-grant-enrollment-intensity-and-cost-attendance (retrieved 2026-10-05)
- Federal Student Aid Handbook 2026-27, Volume 7, Chapter 4, Calculating Annual Awards Using Pell Grant Formulas: https://fsapartners.ed.gov/knowledge-center/fsa-handbook/2026-2027/vol7/ch4-calculating-annual-awards-using-pell-grant-formulas (retrieved 2026-10-05)
- Federal Student Aid Handbook 2026-27, Application and Verification Guide, Chapter 3, Student Aid Index (SAI) and Pell Grant Eligibility: https://fsapartners.ed.gov/knowledge-center/fsa-handbook/2026-2027/application-and-verification-guide/ch3-student-aid-index-sai-and-pell-grant-eligibility (retrieved 2026-10-05)