(Photo Credit: GabrielPevide/Getty Images, courtesy of Seldin/Haring-Smith Foundation)

Many families who received unemployment insurance benefits in 2020 are receiving financial aid awards in Spring 2022 that do not include all of the free Pell Grant money that the federal government has allocated for their students.

Bottom Line's #CorrectMyPell resources are intended for students planning to enroll or continue in college in the 2022-2023 school year, and whose families received unemployment in 2020. For families that made under $150,000 in 2020 and filed their tax returns early, these resources are especially relevant. High school seniors in the class of 2022, who have never received financial aid before, may not realize they can appeal for a correction to their financial aid award.

Eligible students may appeal for an average of $3,000 to $5,000 more in free aid next year for college.

Bottom Line students and their Advisors encourage you to share this page https://bit.ly/CorrectMyPell, which includes free resources to guide families through the process of writing an appeal letter for corrections to their financial aid awards.

Bottom Line thanks all of our supporters and partner organizations, especially SwiftStudent and Seldin/Haring-Smith Foundation, whose work on this issue was recently covered in the New York Times:
Jobless Benefits’ Unintended Fallout: Reduced College Financial Aid - The New York Times (nytimes.com)

Financial aid administrators can find instructions on federal policy with this link https://bit.ly/LinkToFSA.

Read more about our mission, impact, and ways that you can get involved in Bottom Line's 2021 Annual Report.

Can Bottom Line Advisors work directly with my student?

High school juniors and seniors can check here https://bit.ly/EligibleForBL to see whether they are eligible for our free programs. Bottom Line Advisors are matched 1-on-1 with students for up to seven years as they get into college, graduate, and launch their careers. We currently partner with students in Chicago, New York City, Boston and Worcester (MA), Cincinnati, Columbus, and Dayton (OH).