The Twin Rivers Adult School (TRAS) operates as a public adult school in the state of California. TRAS provides career and technical education courses to qualified adults seeking to improve their skills and enhance their employability. TRAS offers federal student aid in the form of the Pell Grants.

Pell Grants are available to all qualifying students for all qualifying programs. Qualified students must meet all the Federal Student Aid requirements, as well as maintain Satisfactory academic Progress (SAP).

Twin Rivers Adult School must follow all Federal Rules when administering Pell Grants.  The Federal rules can get complex, and our financial aid department will do their best to help you navigate through them.  The Financial Aid Handbook you are reading right now will also help you in understanding the basics of Pell Grants.  Students wishing to better understand these rules beyond what is here, are advised to read the Federal Student Aid Handbook.  For even more depth students may read the regulations in the Federal Register and the Laws regarding Title IV funding.

Students wishing to receive a Pell Grant must complete a Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA).  During this process students will be asked for the Federal School Code, the code for Twin Rivers Adult School is 041762.  If you need assistance with filling out your FAFSA, please see our Financial Aid Office.

All official communications to Pell recipients will be conducted via email.  Students must provide an accurate email address on their FAFSA, and check this email regularly.   Students may use Twin Rivers Adult School computers to check their email if they do not have access to it outside of school.

1. Students complete all required admission requirements.
2. Students apply for a Pell Grant by completing the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA). (This may be done before completing all admissions requirements.)
3. Students who qualify for a Pell Grant will be given a schedule of their Pell Disbursements.
4. Upon enrollment, qualified students are given an enrollment voucher to pay for tuition.
5. Students may obtain required books and most other required supplies though completing a Promissory Note, which allows Twin Rivers Adult School to deduct the cost of the book or supply from the students Pell Grant.  (Note: Promissory Notes will reduce the amount of money students receive in their upcoming Pell Disbursement.)
6. The first Pell disbursement is made only after the student demonstrates Satisfactory Academic Progress. (See Satisfactory Academic Progress in our CTE Catalog for more details.)

Standard Verification

All students wishing to receive a Pell Grant must go through the Standard Verification process, which provides evidence of a minimal amount of information to prove the student qualifies for a Pell Grant.

Full Verification

The Federal Government randomly picks students for Full Verification.  Students who are chosen for Full Verification must provide additional information to demonstrate that they have met all the requirements for a Pell Grant.

Pell Grants for Programs that are 900 Hours or More

Currently students may qualify for up to $5,550 in Pell Grants for programs that are 900 hours or more in length.  The Federal Government determines award eligibility based upon the information submitted in the FAFSA.  For a quick very rough estimate of how much you might qualify for, you may use the FAFSA4caster.

Pell Grants for Programs Less than 900 Hours

Twin Rivers Adult School offers a limited number of programs that are less than 900 hours in length that qualify for Federal Student Aid, including:

• Certified Nurse Assistant with LVN Prep
• Office Technician
• Custodial Supervision and Maintenance
• Heavy Duty Truck Driving (Check with the Financial Aid Office for current status of this program)

Because these programs are less than 900 hours in length, a student will only receive a fraction of their Pell Grant Award.   After completing a program that is less than 900 hours in length, students may use the additional Pell Grant for the award year in another qualified program with Twin Rivers Adult School, or any other school that administers Pell grants.

Students who do not have a high school diploma, GED, or equivalent, must prove their Ability to Benefit to qualify for a Pell Grant.  Students may NOT be enrolled in Adult High School courses and receiving Pell Grants at the same time.  For other admissions requirements see the CTE Catalog and Student Handbook.

Proving Ability to Benefit via Exam

Students who pass a federally approved Ability to Benefit (ATB) exam may qualify for Pell Grants immediately.  For a list of Federally approved Ability to Benefit exams, see the Federal Register, Vol. 66, No. 9 (or more recent regulation, as changing.)

Proving Ability to Benefit through Successful Course Completion

Students may prove their Ability to Benefit by successfully completing at least 220 hours of course work without receiving a Pell Grant.  Students wishing to choose this option, who would otherwise qualify for a Pell Grant, may get an Ability to Benefit Loan.

Ability to Benefit Tuition Deferments

In limited cases, Twin Rivers Adult School will defer collecting tuition until after students have completed 220 hours of classwork, thus allowing the student to qualify for a Pell Grant for the remaining portion of their program.  To qualify for this tuition deferment, students must  score high on the CASAS, have demonstrated success in persistence, and pre-qualify for a Pell Grant.

1. TRAS performs dependency overrides on a case-by-case basis for students with unusual circumstances. The financial aid office will provide a statement detailing the determination and include a statement and supporting documentation in the student's file. None of the conditions below, singly or in combination, qualify as unusual circumstances meriting a dependency override:
   1. Parents refuse to contribute to the student's education;
   2. Parents are unwilling to provide information on the FAFSA or for verification;
   3. Parents do not claim the student as a dependent for income tax purposes;
   4. Student demonstrates total self-sufficiency.
2. Unusual circumstances might include an abusive family environment or abandonment by parents and may cause any of the above conditions. In such cases a dependency override might be warranted.
3. Dependency overrides do not carry over from one year to the next; the FAA administer must reaffirm each year that the unusual circumstances persist and that an override is still justified.
4. The documentation of unusual circumstances will come from a third party that knows the student's situation (such as a teacher or member of the clergy), but in cases where this is not available, the school will accept a signed and dated statement from the student detailing the unusual circumstances.
5. The school's financial aid administrator may use professional judgment (PJ), on a case-by-case basis only, to alter the data used by TRAS to calculate the EFC. The reason for the PJ will be documented and placed in the student's file.
6. PJ's will only be offered due to special circumstances that differentiate the student from others in the same program. Examples of these conditions might include:
   1. Medical or dental expenses not covered by insurance;
   2. Unusually high child care costs;
   3. Recent unemployment of a family member;
   4. Changes in the family's income or assets.