2026-27 PA State Grant System Update
To prepare PA State Grant conditional awarding for the 2026/27 academic year, PHEAA will institute a temporary system blackout in GrantUs. This blackout is only for the 2026/27 academic year for both institutions and students. The blackout window will begin April 30, 2026 and is anticipated to conclude May 18, 2026.
GrantUs account activation notices and other system generated reminders will be paused. Students can continue to complete forms and access award information for other academic periods.
PA State Grants
The Pennsylvania State Grant is paid in part or in whole by the Commonwealth and is administered by the Pennsylvania Higher Education Assistance Agency (PHEAA) to undergraduate Pennsylvania residents who demonstrate high financial need. Grants are considered “gift aid”, meaning they don't need to be re-paid. You do not need to accept the grant in LionPATH. The grant will disburse once the funds are sent to Penn State from PHEAA.
PA State grant award notices from PHEAA should be considered estimates. Even after a student has received a State grant award notice, PHEAA requires a college to conduct additional eligibility checks.
Deadlines
To meet the PA State Grant deadline, PHEAA looks at the student’s FAFSA submission date. The FAFSA contains a direct link to the state grant form. Federal Student Aid (FSA) will transmit your FAFSA data to PHEAA's new GrantUs system. Due to funding, late applications will not be considered.
Fall and Spring Application Deadline | Summer Application Deadline |
|---|---|
May 1 | September 1 (for Summer 2026) |
May 1 | September 1 (for Summer 2026) |
Awards Not Final
2026/27 PA State Grant awards, when received from PHEAA, will not be final and the grant amount may change based on the following student information:
Completed credits. You may have an award from PHEAA but may not be eligible if you are deficient in credits (based on half-time or full-time grant) from a previous year in which you received a grant.
Enrollment information. Are you enrolled fulltime or halftime for Fall? Finalize your Fall schedule as soon as you can to avoid changes to your award amounts.
Campus location. Grant amounts will vary based on campus location as some campuses have a lower cost of attendance. This is taken into account in final award amounts.
GrantUs
Portal for accessing forms and information related to the PA State Grant and Ready To Succeed Scholarship programs for the 2025-26 academic year, Summer 2026, & 2026-27 academic year. Special Programs administered by PHEAA will continue to use Account Access Login.
Graduating Senior Exception
9-11 Credit Form
If you are graduating or are in your next-to-last semester, enrolled for 9 to 11 credits, and receiving the PA State Grant, you may be eligible for a full-time grant (you must have remaining grant eligibility).
This is an exception intended to permit continued eligibility to students who normally enroll full-time, but only need to complete 9 to 11 credits during one of the terms of their final year of study. This exception is not applicable to part-time students.
If you would like to be considered for this PA State Grant exception, please complete the form for the appropriate semester: