NCIDEA grant program accepting applications

If you have formed (or will form) a North Carolina-based company, and you are looking for funding, NCIDEA has begun accepting applications. A preliminary application is due by September 12. Twenty semi-finalists will have until September 29 to finalize a full proposal for review. Grants in the amount of $50,000 will be awarded this December to at least 3 but up to 6 companies.

This is a good opportunity for entrepreneurs who have no previous funding and those who wish to avoid seeking venture capital.

Your Guide to Write Grant Proposal

A very useful guide to proposal-writing is The Art of Writing Proposals: Some Candid Suggestions for Applicants to Social Science Research Council Competitions , by Adam Przeworski and Frank Salomon, at:
http://www.ssrc.org/publications/for-fellows/art_of_writing_proposals.page

INTERNET SEARCH ENGINES FOR FUNDING

The following is a list of online search engines for finding Requests for Proposals (RFPs, Program Announcements, Calls for Proposals, Research Program) from both public and private grant making institutions.

TIP: the majority of solicitations will be for organizations; one of your first search criteria should be graduate-student eligibility.

Community of Science (COS): http://fundingopps.cos.com/. Updated daily, COS Funding Opportunities includes more than 19,900 grants from around the world, both government and private.

Foundation Center: http://www.foundationcenter.org/. The Search Zone takes you to internal and external funding sources at http://fdncenter.org/searchzone/.

Sciencewise / FEDIX: http://www.sciencewise.com/ This site provides information on education and research programs for potential grants from federal agencies – Dept of Defense, Dept of Agriculture, Dept. of Transportation, Air Force Office of Scientific Research, NASA, US AID, and National Institutes of Health.

TRAM Research Funding Opportunities and Administration: http://tram.east.asu.edu/ . TRAM offers a search engine, http://tram.east.asu.edu/search/sol_search.html, for locating funding opportunities from federal agencies.

Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance (CFDA): http://www.cfda.gov/public/faprs.htm. This site provides a government-wide compendium of federal programs, projects, grants, services, and activities.

Funders Online: http://www.fundersonline.org/index.asp. This organization seeks to promote and strengthen philanthropy in Europe by facilitating access to online independent funding and information resources. The site's fully searchable Funders Online Directory contains approximately 150 profiles of funder websites and areas of interests.

8 Steps to Successfully Apply for Federal Student Aid

Step 1
Get information at FederalStudentAid.ed.gov or call 1-800-4-FED-AID (1-800-433-3243).
Talk with your high school counselor or the financial aid office at the college you plan to attend.
Make a free financial aid application enter Fafsa

Step 2
Get a Federal Student Aid PIN at www.pin.ed.gov.

Step 3
Personal documents and information such as tax returns and W-2 forms.

Step 4
Make sure you meet the college and state aid deadlines.

Step 5
Get your Student Aid Report (SAR) which is a summary of your data with an information on the status of your FAFSA.

Step 6
The colleges you list on your FAFSA need to verify the information that you provided on your FAFSA.

Step 7
Follow up with your colleges.

Step 8
Contact your college's financial aid office only after you have your award information.

College Financial Aid

Financial aid planning involves a number of things. The first that you have to do is determine the expenses involved in college. You have to know how much college would cost you.

Second step is to determine if you have enough money saved for college. If your savings can’t cover the expenses, estimate how much you are willing to shoulder for college education.

Third step is to look for scholarships available. Or, you can apply for financial aid and student loans. You have to be aware of your financial aid and student loan options. Statistics has it that 50% of currently enrolled college students receive some form of financial aid to assist them pay college expenses.

Next step is to compare your aid awards. Different colleges have different forms of college financial aid. You need to compare each aid awards to help you make the right decisions.

Remember to do thorough research first for any educational path you want to pursue. Learn about specific programs that interest you so that your search may lead you to the best program that suits you. Try to consider your alternatives. Good financial aid planning involves comparing several educational options out there.

Undergraduate Grants

Popular undergraduate grants range from general grant programs that provide monetary incentive to low-income and disadvantaged students to specialized grants in science, math, engineering, and technology (SMET subjects). The grant options for undergraduate women or minorities are even more bountiful.

High school students enrolling in college; do not overlook your college’s grant hand-outs. Most smaller, private colleges are quite generous when it comes to kicking in funds to augment financial aid. They are more interested in attracting quality students regardless of financial ability to pay.

Graduate and Doctoral Students

Many types of grant programs for graduate students and doctoral candidates are available from colleges and universities and private organizations. Colleges and universities are quite competitive in offering grant awards to the right candidates. In some instances grants support most of a doctoral student's research and living expenses.

Grad students who must travel to participate in studies abroad, take part in research, or professional conferences may discover a slew of small grants administered by professional organizations or college travel grants designed to cover such auxiliary expenses.

Federal Grants

The following federal grant programs offer hundreds of thousands of students the necessary assistance that makes college a financial reality:

• The Pell Grant, in existence since 1972, remains one of the staples of federal funding for millions of low-income students. This fundamental grant program is somewhat at the mercy of the federal government’s budgetary and political whims, but nevertheless remains a valuable source of funding for impoverished undergraduate students.
• The Academic Competitiveness (AC) Grant is available to undergraduate freshman and sophomores with outstanding academic records and with demonstrated aptitudes for leadership and service. Qualifying candidates must also be Pell Grant eligible.
• The National Science and Mathematics Access to Retain Talent Grant (SMART Grant) picks up where the Academic Competitiveness Grant leaves off - with $4,000 awards to undergraduate juniors or seniors studying computer science, engineering, mathematics, or sciences. Applicants must be eligible for and receiving the Pell Grant.

Grants—Different from Scholarships and Student Loans

Grants are distinctly different from both scholarships and student loans in that they are free gift money—so unlike student loans that must be repaid—and primarily need-based, compared to traditionally merit-based scholarships.

Grant Categories

Grants may be divided into the following searchable categories:

• Student-specific
• Subject-specific
• Degree Level
• Minority

Common sources for grant funding:

• Federal and state governments
• Colleges and universities
• Public and private organizations

Because most grant recipients are financially impaired or otherwise disadvantaged, there are many grants specifically designed for minorities and low-income students.

How To Get Your Federal Grant Now

Federal Student Aid Program Step By Step Federal Student Aid Program Step By Step

· You can grab your copy of the Federal Student Aid Program Guide Line Here on this site.
http://www.usagrantsnow.com/FundingEduBeyondHighSchool_0809.pdf

· Your First Step Is Your Pin # Which Is A 4 Diget Number You Must Get To apply
http://www.fafsa.ed.gov/before004.htm

· Deadlines to Apply For Aid
State Deadline http://www.fafsa.ed.gov/before003a.htm#state_deadlines

Federal Dead Line http://www.fafsa.ed.gov/before003a.htm#federal_aid

· Student Grants under the Federal Student Aid Program. http://www.fafsa.ed.gov/what010.htm

· Your Application For The Federal Student Aid Program.
http://www.fafsa.ed.gov/FOTWWebApp/complete005.jsp

And The Documents You Will Need To Get The Federal Aid You Need

Your Social Security Number. Be sure it is correct!

Your driver's license (if any)

Your 2007 W-2 Forms and other records of money earned

Your (and your spouse´s, if you are married) 2007 Federal Income Tax Return.
§ IRS 1040, 1040A, 1040 EZ
§ Foreign Tax Return, or
§ Tax return for Puerto Rico, Guam, American Samoa, the U.S. Virgin Islands, the Marshall Islands, the Federal States of Micronesia, or Palau

Your Parents´ 2007 Federal Income Tax return (if you are a dependent student)

Your 2007 untaxed income records
§ Social Security
§ Temporary Assistance for Needy Families
§ Welfare
§ Veterans benefits records

Your current bank statements

Your current business and investment mortgage information, business and farm records, stock, bond and other investment records

Your alien registration or permanent resident card (if you are not a U.S. citizen)
To organize your information, print and complete a FAFSA on the Web Worksheet before you begin entering your information online.
Keep these records! You may need them again. Do not mail your records to Federal Student Aid.

article source:
http://www.usagrantsnow.com
Frank Gorka

Students Can Now Get Free Grant Money From The Government

If late night television and those late-late night infomercials have taught us anything, then it is that everything can be purchased. Nothing quite grabs the attention as Matthew Lesko's books on how to get free grant money from the United States government.

But the reality is that he is right. There is free money to go to school and now you, as a non-traditional student can finally grace those hallowed halls of higher learning and earn your bachelor's degree in whatever discipline you wish to pursue.

Congratulations on being accepted to the college or university of your choice. Now you need to figure out how you are going to pay for school. You no longer qualify for academic scholarships because you are an adult entering college and those scholarships are aimed at high school students enrolling in college straight from high school.

But you can still find money to go to school with free grant money from the government. You are going to need to contact the financial aid office of the university to follow the proper paperwork trail because there are a few steps you are going to have to follow.

Step one is filling out the FAFSA, otherwise known as the Free Application for Federal Student Aid. You are going to need your income tax return information from the previous year. You do not have to worry about your parent's income because you are an adult now and living independently on your own salary.

After they have your information, step two comes into play. The Student Aid Report (SAR) is generated detailing how much money you will be able to have and how it will be disbursed.

The third step is to register for a minimum of twelve credit hours worth of classes and to keep a minimum of a 2.00 grade point average in order to keep your free grant money from the government still coming. Should you fall beneath either of these, you may have to repay the school depending on when you dropped the course. The grants may still not be enough and you may need to take out student loans but at least the government grant money will help.

Mike Selvon's government grants portal has some more useful information on grant money from the government. Visit his web site and leave a comment at his cash grants blog.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Mike_Selvon

American Historical Association Grant

Scholarship Program:

Herbert Baxter Adams Prize
AHA Prize in Atlantic History
George Louis Beer Prize
Albert J. Beveridge Award
Albert J. Beveridge Grant for Research in the History of the Western Hemisphere
Paul Birdsall Prize
James Henry Breasted Prize
John H. Dunning Prize
John E. Fagg Prize
John K. Fairbank Prize for East Asian History
Herbert Feis Award
Morris D. Forkosch Prize
Leo Gershoy Award
J. Franklin Jameson Fellowship in American History
Joan Kelly Memorial Prize in Women's History
Michael Kraus Research Grants in History
Littleton-Griswold Prize
Littleton-Griswold Research Grants
J. Russell Major Prize
Helen and Howard Marraro Prize
George L. Mosse Prize
NASA Fellowship in Aerospace History
John E. O'Connor Film Award
Premio Del Rey Prize
James Harvey Robinson Prize
Bernadotte E. Schmitt Grants for Research in European, African, or Asian History
Wesley-Logan Prize

Student Loan Advice

If you are a student needing financial aid, one of the financial aids available to you is a student loan. In very simple terms, a student loan is a loan you take out and use to pay the costs of your college tuition. Compared to other types of loans, a student loan has a lower interest rates. While students loans can be privately sponsored, most student loans are government sponsored.

A Federal Family education loan or a Stafford loan consist of subsidized or unsubsidized terms. With a Subsidized Stafford Loan the government covers the interest on your student loan as long as you are enrolled in school and taking 6 or more credits. You can qualify by meeting the criteria for financial need. On the contrary with an Unsubsidized Stafford Loan the student must pay the interest on the loan while they are enrolled in school.

The other thing you need to consider before applying for a student loan is your ability to pay back the loan. Consider the kind of job you would possibly have after you graduate. Make an estimate of what your starting salary would be when you get a job. The cardinal rule in borrowing is that you should only borrow an amount that you are certain you will be able to pay back. Before turning in your student loan application, you also need to know how much you will have to pay every month if your loan gets approved.

Federal Parent Loans or PLUS loans as they are known is a student loan not contingent on your income, but lenders do consider personal credit history. Parents or guardians who have a dependent child enrolled in college at least part-time are eligible for the PLUS loan. The interest rate is 9% or less.

Well the truth is student loan consolidation is not the answer for everyone who has a student loan. Federal loans should consolidated separately from private loans. It may be more beneficial in some cases not to consolidate student loans. Student loan consolidation counselors get paid the big bucks to help you figure out this information. However this article is designed to help you develop a better understanding of everything about getting a student loan including student loan consolidation. By Sarah Parker unsecured-p-loans.blogspot.com

Ceck out your aid here!

Student Aid is the U.S. Department of Education's site. It offers free information on preparing for higher education.

It also helps students and parents to make informed decisions regarding all phases of a college, technical or trade school education and career choice.

Popular links within Student aid:
Financial Aid Wizard - Select colleges and estimate costs, access the Expected Family Contribution (EFC) estimator, transfer your MyFSA Profile data to the FAFSA and FAFSA4caster, view deadlines for filing financial aid applications and analyze your financial aid award letters.

MyFSA Financial Aid - View cost of attendance for your select colleges, estimated EFC information, and financial aid awards.

Search for scholarships - View a list of scholarships and search by keyword.

Scholarship matching wizard - Browse for scholarships based on personal information.

How grant dollars are allocated by state?

Did you know that you can easily see how federal assistance/grant dollars are allocated by state? Check out http://www.fedspending.org. The website has a searchable listing of federal government expenditures. It uses information from the government database.

Note: This week they had to update their database because they were notified that apx. 30,000 individual social security numbers were posted on this site.

Here is an example of some information I pulled up for New Jersey:

Fiscal Year: 2006 1Q * Federal dollars: $18,363,678,244
The amount for this search is 3.1% of total Federal dollars for the fiscal year.This state is ranked 7 among states for this year.Total number of recipients: 1,216
Total number of transactions: 4,413

Top 5 Known Congressional Districts where Recipients are Located
New Jersey 2 (Frank A. LoBiondo)
$3,603,352,407
New Jersey 11 (Rodney P. Frelinghuysen)
$591,867,878
New Jersey 5 (Scott Garrett)
$151,283,780
New York 13 (Vito Fossella)
$174,841

Top 10 Recipients
Multiple recipients - New Jersey
$17,145,333,088
NEW JERSEY DEPT OF TRANSPORTATION
$195,976,721
NEW JERSEY DEPT OF HUMAN SERVICES
$151,675,406
NEW JERSEY DIV OF PUBLIC WELFARE
$111,822,782
NEW JERSEY DEPT OF AGRICULTURE MERCER
$72,770,191
NEW JERSEY DEPT OF LABOR
$67,948,293
NEW JERSEY DEPT OF HEALTH & SENIOR SERVICES
$57,261,621
RAMAPO COLLEGE OF NEW JERSEY
$56,483,835
NJDCA
$30,147,275
RUTGERS UNIVERSITY
$21,085,785

Recipient Type
Individuals
$15,922,873,316
Government
$2,205,869,271
Higher Education
$134,980,286
For Profits
$60,917,661
Nonprofits
$36,770,142
Other
$2,267,568

Top 5 Programs
83.100: FLOOD INSURANCE
$7,897,507,400
96.002: Social Security_Retirement Insurance
$2,870,355,608
93.773: Medicare_Hospital Insurance
$1,461,165,575
93.774: Medicare_Supplementary Medical Insurance
$1,340,840,488
93.778: Medical Assistance Program
$1,171,391,966

Top 5 Agencies Providing Assistance
DHS - Federal Emergency Management Agency
$7,910,673,064
Social Security Administration
$4,419,966,461
HHS - Health Care Financing Admin. (was Medicare and Medicaid Serv.)
$4,008,636,378
HUD - Federal Housing Commissioner
$490,122,748
HHS - Secy. of Health and Human Services
$288,613,651

Assistance Type
Insurance
$7,898,144,372
Direct Payments (both specified and unrestricted)
$7,672,805,469
Grants and Cooperative Agreements
$2,202,978,513
Loans (both direct and guaranteed)
$589,749,890
Other
$0

Trend
2000
$52,904,285,913
2001
$59,151,607,317
2002
$66,560,452,372
2003
$72,207,720,577
2004
$71,072,381,270
2005
$71,723,342,050
2006 1Q *
$18,363,678,244*Note: FY 2006 only includes first quarter.


http://www.fedspending.org/faads/faads.php?principal_place_state_code=34&sortby=u&detail=-1&datype=T&reptype=p&database=faads&fiscal_year=2006&submit=GO

Academic Competitiveness Grant (ACG) for Undergraduates

The law created a new student aid grant program called the Academic Competitiveness Grant (ACG). Congress has provided funding and the grants are available for the 2007-2008 award year. First-year undergraduate students will be eligible to receive up to $750. Second-year undergraduate students will be eligible to receive up to $1,300. The ACG eligibility criteria are listed below:

To be eligible for an ACG each academic year, a student must:

Be a U.S. citizen;
Be Federal Pell Grant eligible;
Be enrolled full-time in a degree program;
Be enrolled in the first or second academic year of his or her program of study at a two-year or four-year degree-granting institution;
Have completed a rigorous secondary school program of study (after January 1, 2006, if a first-year student, and after January 1, 2005, if a second year student);
If a first-year student, not have been previously enrolled in an undergraduate program; and
If a second-year student, have at least a cumulative 3.0 grade point average on a 4.0 scale for the first academic year.

If you have not filed a FAFSA or Renewal FAFSA, at the time that you complete your application, FAFSA on the Web will predetermine if you are eligible to answer the ACG questions.

If you have submitted a paper FAFSA and have received your Student Aid Report (SAR) indicating that you may be eligible to answer the ACG questions, please call the Federal Student Aid Information Center at 1-800-4FED-AID.

You may also contact the financial aid office at your school for assistance regarding ACG.

Get Your Grant Proposal Better

1. Write your aim in two sentences. Dissimilar to objectives, your aim is a lofty goal; a reply to such question as “How would you like to alter the world?” Then write your aim on a post-it, after that stick it at your computer screen. When doing final edits, consider whether you have weaved you aim into all the actions of your project or not.

2. Add also cited research to the needs statement. Your needs statement must be supported by persuasive proof. One making out the case for homelessness problem and utters, “64% of undergraduates who fail a class on Palm High have become homeless in the past” is more persuasive than he who states, “homelessness is a difficulty at Palm High.” So, to show that you are creating no statistics (similar to I did) cite the sources you’ve got in a footnote.

3. Then add page numbers since reviewers almost all the time work in groups plus they are pleased if they could reference certain pages while discussing proposals.

4. Remember to add white space. Options are and you have a lot to say on the subject of your program which you have already thought about changing margins and single spacing, as well as using 10-point font in order to fill up as much text in the document as you can. Please don’t. Reviewers will appreciate a form that is not simply succinct and detailed, but also pleasant to look at.

5. Deliver it personally. Even if you’ve got enough time to mail it, seeing the grant application transferred from your own hands to the Foundation hands will prevent any panic attacks. Then, the signature that is required by FedEx is the next best thing. So, if you have to submit electronically, then print out your email and confirmation screen.

Financial & Student Aid

Getting an education is expensive, so be prepared

The cost of college has risen steadily over the past twenty years. At many schools, tuition has nearly doubled. As a result, students are relying more heavily on federal aid and scholarships in order to subsidize their education.

Applying for federal aid

There are various forms of federal aid, including grants, student loans, and work study. Grants and student loans are both monetary awards; the difference is that student loans have to be paid back, grants do not. Work study is a program in which the government secures part-time jobs for students while in school. For more information about grants, student loans, or work study, or to learn more about Federal Student Aid in general, please click on the appropriate link. Be advised that to apply for any form of federal aid, you must first fill-out a Free Application for Federal Student Aid or FAFSA.

Applying for scholarships

In addition to federal aid, students will also want to seek funding from other sources. Individual schools often provide need-based grants as well as scholarships for students with outstanding academic credentials or other achievements. Furthermore, there are numerous public and private organizations -- and even some businesses -- that offer scholarships for college. As such, you should make it a point to identify these scholarships early and to apply for as many as possible.

The secret to financial aid is to start early and be persistent

Applying for financial aid is a time-consuming but relatively easy process; the important thing to remember is that money is out there and that a little effort at the outset could save you thousands of dollars -- if not tens of thousands -- later.

Archive for the 'Student Loans' Category

Students and parents, if you’re attending a US college, it’s to fill out your FAFSA. If you’re not all too familiar with the form and what it’s all about, it’s a free application for federal student aid. The application is used to determine the amount of money you’ll be given to go towards your college education. Just about every single US college utilizes the FAFSA system.

There are roughly 14 million students receiving over $80 billion in financial aid yearly.

How is the FAFSA organized? There are five parts: information about the student, information about the student’s dependency status, information about the parents of the student, financial information about the student, and a list of schools that should receive the FAFSA information (similar to providing your college with your SAT/ACT scores).

There are two ways to apply: online or by mail. While the federal deadline is June 30th, April 15 (tax time) is literally right around the corner and some states require this form to be filled out prior to then. Ideally, you should have this form filled out closer to February, but this is a last call reminder in case you were unable to do it then.

What is Grant?

Nowadays, it is impossible to cover the tuition fees without some additional aids. The education costs too much, and only the small amount of people is able to cover the education without some financial help.

Financial aids are different, however the grants are considered to be the best ones from all the possible financial aids.

The income of grants is as follows: The Federal Government and Private Grant Foundations provide billions of dollars in order to supply students with grants.

Grant is a sum of money presented to you in order to receive education, this sum of money is interest-free and non-taxable. Besides, it should not be covered at all.

There are no obligations while applying to the grant; you may apply even if your credit history is spoiled and even if your financial situation is determined with the word bankrupt.

That is why I advice you to apply to the grants, the earlier you start doing it the better. The procedure of applying is rather complicated, though it is worse of being done. Sometimes, apart from filing in the implicational forms, you may be asked to write an essay. If you want your essay to be written in the best way, I recommend you to appeal to the proper services.

Student Loan Rates - Tips For Student Loans

Getting a college education for many people sees the need for a student loan. Finding the best student loan rate of interest from a financial institution is an important consideration that may save you money when the time comes for student loan repayment.

Generally a student loan is not required to repaid until the student graduates and has finished his or her schooling. It’s very easy during the educational period to be unconcerned about a loan and not have some sort of repayment plan in mind.

The student loan rates will then be an important factor as the graduate will be starting a new job, possibly finding new accommodation, and have travel and living costs to cover. Every cent will count in the beginning and even a difference of 1% in the student loan repayment will have an effect on living standards.

Some lenders charge fees to set up a student loan that can increase the cost of the loan. Often a lender will offer a low interest rate that seems most competitive. However these low rates are often off set or can actually cost more due to the student loan fees that are charged.

On the flip side lenders that don’t charge the fees will roll over the costs into the interest rate. As a general rule three to four percent in fees is about the same as a one percent higher interest rate.

Check to see if the student loan interest rate is fixed or variable, a fixed loan may be more expensive than a variable rate at the time of application but if the variable rates are to rise in the future the fixed loan would have been the best option.

This is something where the student will have to consider the economy and seek out advice on the direction of future interest rates. Use a student loan calculator to calculate future loan interest rates. This can give you a general idea of what the loan will cost you per month but remember it is only an estimate.At the time of writing a Stafford Federal loan has a 6.80% fixed student loan rate. Compared to a student loan rate with an average private loan rate of 8.25%, you’ll quickly see why many students turn to the Federal government for the best loan rates.

Find out when the interest begins accruing. Typically, the student loan rates won’t take affect until six weeks until after you graduate. That means you have time to save up in order to pay your loans back. But you should make sure of this so that you’re not caught by surprise when that first bill becomes due.

It’s always a smart thing to shop around for the best student loan rates available to you; you may get lucky and find even a better loan than a Stafford loan has to offer. Taking these steps will give you peace of mind and be stress free, allowing you to focus on your main goal, completing your studies and getting the education to go out and get that great job or business you deserve.

Author: Joel Davis

Source: www.iSnare.com

Federal College Grants

The first step to qualify for all types of federal college grants is to fill out a FAFSA form. This form is used for establishing your financial need, as well as used to establish how much federal financial aid you qualify for. To fill out this form you will need tax return information, personal identification information, as well as the code for the college, or colleges that you are interested in attending.

Federal college grants use the information from your FAFSA to determine which grant programs you qualify for. Government grants generally are distributed based on financial need or on scholastic aptitude. If you don’t have a lot of money available to fund your college education then you should submit your application for both of these types of grants.

If your federal college grants don’t cover all of your college expenses then you also have the option to accept student loans. The two most commonly offered student loans are subsidized and unsubsidized Stafford Loans. To apply for these student loans you will need to talk to your school’s financial aid office to see if they have a preferred lender. If they don’t then you can apply for these loans at almost any bank.

Another option for financing your college education is to apply for scholarships. Scholarship opportunities are advertised in educational journals, professional journals, and a listing can also be found at your college’s financial aid office. Scholarships are usually based on grade point average and application essays. To improve your chances of winning a scholarship it is important to make sure that you follow all of the instructions provided with the scholarship application, as well as make sure that you submit your application by the posted deadlines.

By Sarah Freeland From:http://www.archetype-development.com/

Student Grant

Inventive students have exploited a loophole in the education system to get thousands of pounds towards food and rent - while detained at Her Majesty’s pleasure.

It emerged today that £500,000 has been paid to prisoners in student grants and loans towards food and rent thanks to a glitch in the Education (Student Support) Regulations 2000. David Willetts, shadow universities secretary, is outraged: "The latest in a long line of Labour fiascos," he says.

In a world where HM Revenue and Customs can waylay the personal details of 25m families, is he really that surprised?

What is is pell grant money?

A Federal Pell Grant, unlike a loan, does not have to be repaid. Pell Grants are awarded usually only to undergraduate students who have not earned a bachelor's or a professional degree. (In some cases, however, a student enrolled in a post-baccalaureate teacher certification program might receive a Pell Grant.) Pell Grants are considered a foundation of federal financial aid, to which aid from other federal and nonfederal sources might be added.

How much can I get?

The maximum Pell Grant award for the 2008-09 award year (July 1, 2008 to June 30, 2009) is $4,731. The maximum can change each award year and depends on program funding. The amount you get, though, will depend not only on your financial need, but also on your costs to attend school, your status as a full-time or part-time student, and your plans to attend school for a full academic year or less.

If I am eligible, how will I get the Pell Grant money?

Your school can apply Pell Grant funds to your school costs, pay you directly (usually by check), or combine these methods. The school must tell you in writing how much your award will be and how and when you'll be paid. Schools must disburse funds at least once per term (semester, trimester, or quarter). Schools that do not use semesters, trimesters, or quarters must disburse funds at least twice per academic year.