Say you have a COA of $20000 and your EFC is 2000. You would have $18000 “Gross Need.” If you are eligible for Pell that is $2360 (for an EFC of 2000). Now you have $15640 of “Unmet Need.”

Most schools do and should go from the ground up, so the neediest students (those with an EFC of 0) are awarded first and will get the most grant/institutional scholarship money (during the prime awarding time in the spring; most schools have a financial aid application deadline in the spring and will be put into some kind of “on-time” pool. If a student misses the deadline or applies really late in the year then it is hit or miss if s/he gets what s/he could have been eligible for had the application been submitted by the school’s deadline).

So it’s not necessarily about how “easy” it is rather than if you have the “need” for some of these grants.

You should talk to a financial aid officer at your school for more information. Good luck!

Good Luck!