The federally funded Academic Competitiveness Grant (ACG) is a new grant that begins in the 2006-2007 academic year. Qualified students can receive this grant for no more than two years. The maximum first year grant is limited to $750.
The maximum second year grant is limited to $1,300. How much an individual student receives is dependent upon financial need, the cost of attendance for the school in which the student is enrolled and the total of all other forms of financial aid already awarded to that student. Students cannot receive Federal Academic Competitiveness Grant funding from more than one school at the same time. The grant amounts are not designed to satisfy all student tuition, but rather to help students in financial need to satisfy some small part of their college tuition.
To receive the Academic Competitiveness Grant (ACG), the student must be enrolled as an undergraduate student in an accredited four-year or two-year college or university. The amount granted in combination with Pell grant assistance may not exceed the cost of attendance at the school in which the student is enrolled. If a student has already received an undergraduate degree, that student is not eligible for the grant.
When a student completes the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (http://www.fafsa.ed.gov/), the U.S. Department of Education will evaluate his/her eligibility for Pell Grants and Academic Competitiveness Grants based on financial need. If you receive an ACG, your school will credit the funds to your student tuition account through the college Office of the Bursar. The Office of the Bursar will apply the Federal Academic Competitiveness Grant (ACG) funding to student fees, e.g. tuition, fees, room and board, or other institutional charges. If there are ACG funds remaining after the school applies the grant to the student fees, a check for the balance of the funds will be mailed to the student by check or direct deposit in a checking or savings account designated by the student.
If the total amount of the national federal grant funding approved by the government during any academic year is less than the amount required to provide all grants to all eligible students, then the amount of the grant will be reduced equally for each student. If additional funding is appropriated for any year the reduced grants will increase equally for all eligible students. Grants will not be awarded for an academic year for which the student received college credit before the date of government enactment of the Academic Competitiveness Grant (ACG).
The Department of Education has authorized the following funds to fulfill the Academic Competitiveness Grant (ACG) program:
Seven hundred and ninety million dollars ($790M) for FY2006
Eight hundred and fifty million dollars ($850M) for FY2007
Nine hundred and twenty million dollars ($920M) for FY2008
Nine hundred and sixty million dollars ($960M) for FY2009
One billion, ten million dollars ($1.01B) for FY2010
One million dollars (1M) for FY2011
If there are excess funds in the federal coffers for any fiscal year, these funds will roll over and become available to students for Academic Competitiveness Grants (ACG) during the next fiscal year. Please note that unless the government renews funding for these grants beyond that already approved and funded by the original enactment, the grant period will end during the 2010-2011 academic year.
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