Pell Grant 2027-2028: The New Income Limits, the FAFSA Dates, and the One Number Not Yet Announced
- The 2027-28 FAFSA is open now. The U.S. Department of Education launched it on September 23, 2026verified 2026-10-11, and the federal deadline is June 30, 2028verified 2026-10-11.
- The 2027-28 income limits are already set. A dependent student in a family of four with two parents qualifies for the maximum Pell Grant when parents' adjusted gross income is at or below $56,263verified 2026-10-11, up from $54,600 for 2026-27, because 2027-28 uses the 2025 poverty guidelines.
- The 2027-28 maximum award has not been announced. The last published figure is the 2026-27 maximum of $7,395 (minimum $740). The new amount depends on fiscal year 2027 appropriations; last cycle the Department published it on January 30, 2026.
- Several state deadlines changed for 2027-28, including Tennessee moving later and switching its new awards to first come, first served, and North Carolina community colleges moving from August 15 to June 1.
The Federal Pell Grant is the largest need-based grant for undergraduates, and the 2027-28 version is half published. The application, the deadlines and the income rules that decide who gets the maximum award are all official today. The award amount itself is not. This page separates the two, with every 2027-28 figure taken from the primary document that sets it: the Department of Education's launch announcement, the Federal Student Aid deadlines page, and the 2027-28 Student Aid Index and Pell Grant Eligibility Guide that Federal Student Aid posted on June 12, 2026. For the current school year's rules and the 600% lifetime limit, see our Pell Grant 2026-2027 guide.
Table of contents
What is official for the 2027-28 Pell Grant?
Four parts of the 2027-28 Pell Grant are official: the application, the federal deadline, the eligibility formula and the income ceilings. The Department of Education announced on September 23, 2026 that the 2027-2028 FAFSA form was online, the earliest launch in the program's history for the second year in a row verified 2026-10-11. Federal Student Aid sets the federal filing deadline at 11:59 p.m. Central time on June 30, 2028. The formula and ceilings are in the 2027-28 Student Aid Index and Pell Grant Eligibility Guide, which tells schools and software vendors exactly how the Student Aid Index (SAI) and Pell eligibility are computed for the 2027-28 award year.
One part is not official: the dollar amount. The 2027-28 maximum and minimum awards are set through fiscal year 2027 appropriations and published by Federal Student Aid in a letter to schools. Until then the guide refers to "the corresponding award year's maximum Pell Grant award" rather than a number. Any site quoting a 2027-28 maximum today is quoting a projection.
What are the 2027-28 Pell Grant income limits?
The 2027-28 Pell Grant income limits are percentages of the 2025 HHS poverty guidelines, applied to adjusted gross income plus any foreign income exclusion. The 2027-28 guide sets the maximum Pell Grant at 175% of the poverty guideline for a family that is not a single-parent household and 225% for a single parent; a family whose parents (or, for an independent student, the student and spouse) did not file a federal tax return also qualifies for the maximum. The guide is explicit about the year: always use the poverty guidelines for the prior-prior tax year, so 2027-28 uses the 2025 guidelines verified 2026-10-11.
| Family size | 2025 poverty guideline | Max Pell, two parents (175%) | Max Pell, single parent (225%) | Min Pell, two parents (275%) | Min Pell, single parent (325%) | 2026-27 max, two parents |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2 | $21,150 | $37,013 | $47,588 | $58,163 | $68,738 | $35,770 |
| 3 | $26,650 | $46,638 | $59,963 | $73,288 | $86,613 | $45,185 |
| 4 | $32,150 | $56,263 | $72,338 | $88,413 | $104,488 | $54,600 |
| 5 | $37,650 | $65,888 | $84,713 | $103,538 | $122,363 | $64,015 |
| 6 | $43,150 | $75,513 | $97,088 | $118,663 | $140,238 | $73,430 |
Computed by GrantProbe from the guide's percentages and the HHS guidelines, rounded to the nearest dollar as the guide instructs. Alaska and Hawaii use their own higher HHS guidelines. Independent students use 225% (single parent) and 175% (everyone else) for the maximum, and 400% (single parent), 350% (other parents) and 275% (not a parent) for the minimum.
The minimum Pell Grant reaches further up the income scale but carries a second test. Under Step 3 of the guide, a dependent student whose single parent earns up to 325% of the guideline, or whose parents earn up to 275%, qualifies for the minimum award only if the calculated SAI is less than twice the maximum Pell Grant. Because that cutoff is tied to the award amount, the exact SAI limit for 2027-28 is the one number in the eligibility rules that waits on the appropriation; under the 2026-27 maximum it was $14,790. The SAI itself still runs from a floor of -1,500.
What is the maximum Pell Grant for 2027-28?
The maximum Pell Grant for 2027-28 has not been announced as of 2026-10-11. The most recent official amounts are for 2026-27: a maximum of $7,395 and a minimum of $740, published by Federal Student Aid in letter GEN-26-01 on January 30, 2026 and updated on February 18, 2026 to cite the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2026 verified 2026-10-11. The 2027-28 amounts will follow the same route, through the fiscal year 2027 appropriation and a new Federal Student Aid letter.
Planning around the pending number is straightforward. A student who meets a maximum-Pell ceiling above will receive the full 2027-28 maximum, whatever it turns out to be, scaled for enrollment intensity. A student in the calculated range should budget on the 2026-27 figure and treat any increase as upside, never the reverse. We will update this section the day the 2027-28 letter is published.
Find the other grants that stack with Pell
Pell rarely covers the full cost of attendance. The GrantProbe grant finder matches you to federal, state and private programs by state, field of study and household, so you can see what else to apply for before state deadlines close.
Open the grant finder →When are the 2027-28 FAFSA deadlines?
The federal 2027-28 FAFSA deadline is 11:59 p.m. Central time on June 30, 2028, with corrections and updates accepted until 11:59 p.m. Central time on September 12, 2028, according to the Federal Student Aid FAFSA deadlines page verified 2026-10-11. The federal date matters least in practice. State grant programs close far earlier, and the earliest fixed state date on the 2027-28 list is Texas, with a January 15, 2027 priority deadline.
| State and program | 2027-28 deadline | Type |
|---|---|---|
| Texas | January 15, 2027 | Priority consideration |
| Missouri | February 1, 2027 | Priority; accepted through April 1, 2027 |
| Connecticut | February 15, 2027 | Priority, midnight Central time |
| Arkansas, Governor's Scholars Program (Distinguished) | March 1, 2027 | Deadline |
| Idaho, Opportunity Scholarship | March 1, 2027 | Deadline, midnight Mountain time |
| Maryland, Howard P. Rawlings program | March 1, 2027 | Date received |
| West Virginia, PROMISE Scholarship | March 1, 2027 | Deadline |
| California, most state programs and Cal Grant | March 2, 2027 | Date postmarked |
Another group of states has no fixed date and awards as soon as possible after October 1, 2026 until funds run out, which makes filing early the whole strategy. The 2027-28 list includes Illinois for the Monetary Award Program, Kentucky, North Dakota, Vermont, the Alaska Education Grant, Nevada's Silver State Opportunity Grant, the Oregon Opportunity Grant, and South Carolina's need-based grants, which are explicitly first come, first served. Georgia, Montana, Virginia and Washington also ask for filing as soon as possible after October 1, 2026.
Which state deadlines changed for 2027-28?
Four state deadline changes stand out when the 2027-28 list on the Federal Student Aid deadlines page is set against the 2026-27 list on the same page verified 2026-10-11. Most states simply rolled their dates forward a year, which is why the differences are easy to miss.
| State and program | 2026-27 | 2027-28 | What changed |
|---|---|---|---|
| Tennessee, State Grant (prior recipients) and Tennessee Promise | March 2, 2026 | April 1, 2027 | About a month later; other State Grant awards move from "the neediest applicants" to first come, first served |
| North Carolina, community colleges | August 15, 2026 | June 1, 2027 | About ten weeks earlier, now the same priority date as UNC System schools |
| Indiana, Adult Student Grant and Workforce Ready Grant | As soon as possible after October 1, 2025 | April 15, 2027 | A fixed date, shared with the Frank O'Bannon Grant and 21st Century Scholarship |
| Arkansas, Governor's Scholars Program (Distinguished) | Not listed | March 1, 2027 | A new, earlier listed deadline; Academic Challenge and non-Distinguished awards stay at July 1 |
The Tennessee change cuts both ways. Returning State Grant recipients and Tennessee Promise applicants gain a month, but new State Grant awards now go to whoever files first rather than to the neediest applicants, so a Tennessee family with high need that used to be safe filing in February is now racing everyone else. The North Carolina change is the one most likely to cost a student money: a community college student who filed in July under last year's August 15 date would miss this year's June 1 priority date.
Pell is one piece of the bill. Compare what schools actually charge after aid with EduBracket's college profiles built on College Scorecard data, and if you already work, check whether your employer will pay too: EduBracket's employer tuition reimbursement guide covers the tax-free Section 127 limit. Federal campus-based grants such as the Federal Supplemental Educational Opportunity Grant go first to Pell recipients, and our education grants guide covers the rest.
Frequently asked questions
What is the maximum Pell Grant for 2027-2028?
What is the income limit for the maximum Pell Grant in 2027-28?
When did the 2027-28 FAFSA open?
What is the deadline for the 2027-28 FAFSA?
Which tax year does the 2027-28 FAFSA use?
Bottom line
Everything that decides whether you get a 2027-28 Pell Grant is already published: the FAFSA opened September 23, 2026, the maximum-Pell income ceiling for a two-parent family of four is $56,263, and the federal deadline is June 30, 2028. The only missing piece is how much the maximum award will be, which waits on the fiscal year 2027 appropriation. File now, because state money in Texas, California and the first-come states is decided long before that number arrives, and check whether your state's deadline moved this year. Then read our Pell Grant 2026-2027 guide for the lifetime limit and part-time rules, which carry over unchanged.
- U.S. Department of Education, Earliest FAFSA Launch in Program History for the Second Consecutive Year (September 23, 2026) verified 2026-10-11.
- Federal Student Aid, FAFSA Application Deadlines (2027-28 and 2026-27 federal and state deadlines) verified 2026-10-11.
- Federal Student Aid, 2027-28 Student Aid Index (SAI) and Pell Grant Eligibility Guide (posted June 12, 2026) verified 2026-10-11.
- HHS ASPE, 2025 Poverty Guidelines Computations and 2024 computations verified 2026-10-11.
- Federal Student Aid, GEN-26-01, 2026-27 Federal Pell Grant Maximum and Minimum Award Amounts verified 2026-10-11.