The Federal Pell Grant is an income-based grant that is available almost exclusively to undergraduate students. Students who are eligible for the Pell grant will find that they are almost automatically eligible for the other available federal grant, though some targeted grants require that you also meet other eligibility criteria.
If you qualify for the Pell Grant, you may also qualify for the Federal Supplemental Educational Opportunity Grant (FSEOG), which is for students who show surpassing need. As this grant depends on the availability of funds at your school, it is important that you complete your FAFSA application and send it in as early as possible.
The Academic Competitiveness Grant (ACG) is a merit-based grant, meaning that it is open to those students who qualify for the Pell Grant and who also have completed a challenging and exacting academic program in high school. Applicants must also be enrolled in a degree granting college and maintained at least a 3.0 GPA.
The National Science and Mathematics Access to Retain Talent (SMART) Grant encourages students to major in subjects which are academically rigorous and not usually all that popular, such as math, the sciences, engineering, technology and critical foreign languages (as determined by the government). Because of their relatively low numbers of enrollment in these types of courses, minority students and women are encouraged to seriously consider these majors and apply for the SMART and any other relative grants.
TEACH grants are a little different from the other federal grants. Recipients of the TEACH grant need to sign an Agreement to Serve each year stipulating that within eight years of graduation, they will teach full time for four years in a low-income elementary or secondary school. Should grant recipients fail to fulfill this promise, the grant will need to be paid back.