Determining	Enrollment	Intensity	Using	Credit	Hour	Equivalencies
For	students	enrolled	in	direct	assessment	programs	and	students	with	intellectual	disabilities	enrolled	in	comprehensive
transition	and	postsecondary	(CTP)	programs,	enrollment	intensity	can	be	calculated	using	credit	hour	<equivalencies=
rather	than	credit	hours.
For	direct	assessment	programs,	schools	must	develop	a	methodology,	consistent	with	the	requirements	of	the	school9s
accrediting	agency	or	state,	to	reasonably	equate	each	class	or	competency	in	the	direct	assessment	program	to	either
credit	hour	or	clock	hour	equivalencies.	For	more	information,	see	
Volume	2,	Chapter	2	of	the	FSA	Handbook.
Enrollment	intensity	for	students	with	intellectual	disabilities	enrolled	in	CTP	programs	may	also	be	determined	using
credit	hour	equivalencies.	These	equivalent	credits,	earned	from	audited	courses	and	other	normally	noncredit	activities
undertaken	as	part	of	a	program	for	students	with	disabilities,	may	be	awarded	for	purposes	of	determining	enrollment
intensity.	For	more	detail,	see	Volume	1,	Chapter	1	of	the	FSA	Handbook.
Enrollment	Intensity	for	Cooperative	Education
In	a	cooperative	education	program,	your	school	assesses	the	work	to	be	performed	by	the	student	and	determines	the
equivalent	academic	course	load.	The	student9s	enrollment	intensity	is	based	on	the	equivalent	academic	course	load.
Academic	Calendar	and	Enrollment	Intensity	Changes
Because	the	academic	calendar	for	a	program	determines	which	Pell	formula	you	use,	you	need	to	review	the	conditions
for	the	use	of	each	formula	if	the	calendar	for	the	program	changes.	This	is	particularly	true	if	you	are	using	Formulas	1
and	2,	which	have	the	most	restrictive	conditions.
If	a	student9s	enrollment	intensity	changes	during	the	year,	your	school	may	have	to	recalculate	the	student9s	Pell	Grant
payment	based	on	the	new	enrollment	intensity.	We9ll	discuss	when	a	school	is	required	to	recalculate	a	student9s	Pell
Grant	payment	due	to	a	change	in	enrollment	intensity	in	Chapter	7	of	this	volume.
Pell	Grant	Cost	of	Attendance
The	types	of	costs	included	in	the	Pell	Grant	cost	of	attendance	are	the	same	as	those	for	the	other	
Title	IV	programs;
however,	the	value	of	each	component	in	the	Pell	Grant	COA	is	always	based	on	the	costs	for	a	full-time	student	for	a
full	academic	year.	See	Volume	3,	Chapter	2	of	the	FSA	Handbook	for	a	full	discussion	of	cost	of	attendance	and
allowable	costs.
For	Pell,	costs	for	programs	or	enrollment	periods	longer	or	shorter	than	an	academic	year	must	be	prorated	so	that	they
are	the	costs	for	one	full	academic	year.	This	is	true	for	both	parts	of	the	academic	year	definition:	if	either	the	number	of
weeks	or	the	number	of	clock/credit	hours	differs	from	the	academic	year	standard,	the	costs	must	be	prorated	to
determine	the	full-time,	full-year	Pell	budget.
The	need	to	prorate	Pell	costs	is	most	likely	to	occur	in	these	situations:
A	term-based	program	that	provides	fewer	weeks	of	instructional	time	than	the	minimum	number	of	weeks	of
instructional	time	in	an	academic	year;
A	non-term	program	that	provides	less	than	24	semester	hours,	36	quarter	hours,	or	900	clock	hours	and/or	provides
fewer	weeks	of	instructional	time	than	the	minimum	number	of	weeks	of	instructional	time	in	an	academic	year;	or
A	program	that	is	longer	than	an	academic	year,	where	the	costs	for	the	entire	program	are	charged	at	the	beginning
Enrollment	intensity	changes
34	CFR	690.80(b)
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