The	cost	of	attendance	(COA)	for	students	engaged	in	a	program	of	study	by	correspondence	must	include	tuition	and
fees	and,	if	required,	books,	course	materials,	supplies,	and	equipment.	A	school	may	also	include	an	allowance	for	travel,
housing,	and	food	costs	incurred	specifically	for	a	period	of	residential	training.	The	COA	must	be	based	on	the	costs	for	a
full-time	student	for	a	full	academic	year	for	the	relevant	component.	If	the	student9s	program	or	period	of	enrollment,	as
measured	in	credit	hours,	is	longer	or	shorter	than	an	academic	year	as	measured	in	credit	hours,	the	tuition	and	fees	for
the	program	or	enrollment	period	must	be	prorated.
Because	the	correspondence	study	COA	for	the	nonresidential	component	only	includes	costs	associated	with	credit
hours,	your	school	always	uses	the	credit-hour-related	fraction	to	prorate	the	COA.	(Because	there	are	no	costs	associated
with	weeks	of	instructional	time	in	the	correspondence	cost	of	attendance,	your	school	must	prorate	the	cost	only	if	the
number	of	hours	in	the	program	is	shorter	or	longer	than	in	an	academic	year):
Credit	hours	in	program9s	definition	of	an	academic	year	÷	Credit	hours	to	which	the	costs	apply
The	resulting	amount	is	the	full-time,	full-academic-year	cost	used	for	calculating	Pell	Grant	eligibility.
Pell	Enrollment	Intensity	for	Correspondence	Study	Programs
Students	enrolled	in	programs	of	correspondence	study	are	no	more	than	half-time	students	(the	equivalent	of	50%
enrollment	intensity),	even	if	they	are	enrolled	in	enough	coursework	to	be	full	time.	However,	if	the	correspondence
study	is	combined	with	regular	coursework,	the	student9s	enrollment	intensity	might	be	more	than	50%.	For	a	student
enrolled	in	a	term-based	correspondence	program,	your	school	must	determine	how	many	credits	to	include	in	the
numerator	of	the	enrollment	intensity	formula	to	determine	the	student9s	annual	award.	See	the	<Students	taking	a
combination	of	regular	and	correspondence	courses=	section	in	Chapter	3	for	additional	guidance.
A	student	enrolled	only	in	a	non-term	correspondence	program	always	has	their	award	calculated	based	on	50%
enrollment	intensity.
Pell	Correspondence	Payment	Periods	and	Timing	of	Payments
For	a	
non-term	correspondence	program,	there	must	be	two	equal	payment	periods	in	each	academic	year.	Each	payment
period	is	the	lesser	of	half	the	academic	year	or	half	the	program	(measured	in	credit	hours).	In	addition,	you	can9t
disburse	a	Pell	payment	for	the	first	payment	period	until	the	student	has	completed	25%	of	the	work	in	the	academic
year	or	the	program,	whichever	is	shorter.	You	can9t	make	the	second	payment	until	the	student	has	completed	75%	of
the	work	in	the	academic	year	or	program.
For	a	
term-based	correspondence	program,	as	for	other	term-based	programs,	the	payment	period	is	the	term.	However,
you	can9t	disburse	Pell	for	a	payment	period	until	the	student	has	completed	50%	of	the	lessons	or	completes	50%	of	the
work	for	the	term,	whichever	is	later.
If	the	correspondence	program	has	a	required	period	of	
residential	training,	you	must	treat	the	residential	training	as	an
additional	payment	period	and	determine	the	payment	for	that	payment	period	using	either	Formula	3	or	Formula	4.	Note
that	the	correspondence	portion	of	the	program	is	still	treated	as	a	separate	portion	of	the	program	that9s	divided	into
equal	payment	periods.
Pell	Calculations	in	Correspondence	Programs
Formula	5	is	used	for	students	enrolled	only	in	correspondence	courses	(not	including	residential	components	of
correspondence	programs).	There	are	two	versions	of	Formula	5:
Pell	Grant	Correspondence	Program	Disbursements
34	CFR	690.66
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