of	the	program.
There	are	two	ways	to	prorate	Pell	costs,	as	shown	in	the	following	examples.	Examples	3	and	4	are	based	on	a	program
that	is	shorter	than	an	academic	year.	Example	5	shows	how	costs	are	prorated	when	they	are	charged	for	a	program	that
is	longer	than	an	academic	year.	Note	that	prorating	the	COA	usually	does	not	affect	the	amount	of	Pell	Grant	the	student
receives.	However,	you9re	required	to	report	the	full-time,	full-year	Pell	budget	when	reporting	disbursements	to	the
Common	Origination	and	Disbursement	System	(COD).
Volume	7,	Chapter	3,	Example	3:	Prorating	Total	Costs	by	Lesser	of	Two	Fractions
You	may	take	the	student9s	entire	COA	(tuition	and	fees,	housing	and	food,	etc.)	and	multiply	it	by	the	lesser	of
the	two	fractions	that	represent	the	length	of	the	academic	year.	One	fraction	is	based	on	credit	or	clock	hours
and	the	other	is	based	on	weeks	of	instructional	time,	as	shown	in	this	example.
Let9s	use	the	example	of	a	program	that	charges	$10,500,	awards	18	semester	credits,	and	is	completed	by	most
full-time	students	within	20	weeks	of	instructional	time.
Credit/clock	hours	in	academic	year	definition	(24)	÷	Credit/clock	hours	awarded	(18)
OR
Weeks	in	academic	year	definition	(30)	÷	Weeks	provided	(20)
Since	the	fraction	using	credit	hours	is	the	lesser	fraction,	the	program	cost	of	$10,500	is	multiplied	by	24/18	to
find	the	full-year	Pell	cost.
$10,500	x	(24/18)	=	$14,000
The	full-time	cost	is	$14,000.
Note:	If	one	of	the	fractions	is	equal	to	one,	for	instance,	if	the	program	awards	24	credit	hours,	then	the	prorated
cost	is	the	same	as	the	original	COA.
Volume	7,	Chapter	3,	Example	4:	Prorating	Academic	Costs	and	Living	Expenses	Separately
As	an	alternative,	you	can	separately	prorate	the	costs	associated	with	credit	or	clock	hours	(tuition	and	fees,
books	and	supplies,	loan	fees)	and	the	costs	associated	with	weeks	of	instructional	time	(housing	and	food,
miscellaneous	expenses,	disability	expenses,	transportation,	dependent	care,	study	abroad,	reasonable	costs
associated	with	employment	as	part	of	a	cooperative	education	program).	Using	our	earlier	example	of	a	program
lasting	20	weeks	and	awarding	18	credit	hours,	and	specifying	that	the	student9s	tuition,	books,	supplies,	etc.,
come	to	$4,500	and	living	expenses	amount	to	$6,000,	the	calculation	would	look	like	this:
$4,500	x	(24/18)	=	$6,000
$6,000	x	(30/20)	=	$9,000
In	this	example,	the	student9s	Pell	COA	is	the	sum	of	the	two	prorated	costs,	or	$15,000.
Volume	7,	Chapter	3,	Example	5:	Prorating	Costs	for	a	Non-term	Program	Longer	Than	an	Academic
Year
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