Pell Grants Remain Vital to Ensuring College Access, Require ‘Balanced Approach’ to Address Budgetary Shortfalls, House Panel on Higher Education Learns
WASHINGTON—Pell Grants remain vital to a robust American economy by expanding college access and affordability, and strengthening the program requires a thoughtful approach that does not balance budgetary shortfalls on the backs of needy students, members of a House subcommittee on higher education learned today.
“Serving approximately nine million hard working students, the federal Pell Grant program is the single largest source of federal grant aid, which supports college students,” said Rep. Rubén Hinojosa (D-TX), senior Democrat on the House Subcommittee on Higher Education and Workforce Training. “Pell Grants strengthen our economy and boost workforce productivity. We know that a college degree can dramatically increase employment and wages and move low-income students into the middle class.”
Pell Grants, which are need-based, primarily serve low-income families. Approximately 92 percent of Pell recipients have family incomes below the national median of $51,800. The program is especially critical for ensuring educational opportunity for minority students. More than 60 percent of African American undergraduates and half of Latino undergraduates rely on Pell Grants to afford the cost of a college degree.
“The Pell Grant program makes college possible. It changes lives, millions of them,” testified Michael Dannenberg, director of higher education and education finance policy at The Education Trust. “More low-income students are not just going to college. Many are going to colleges that are a better fit for them, and in which they’re more likely to succeed, because of the Pell Grant program.”
Despite the fact that Pell Grants have successfully expanded college opportunities for millions of Americans, proposed Republican budget cuts would put the program’s future stability in jeopardy. In March, House Republicans passed a budget that would cut $98 billion in mandatory Pell Grant funding over ten years, which would prevent hundreds of thousands of students from accessing this critical path to a college degree. Additionally, soaring college costs have eroded the purchasing power of the Pell Grant: next year’s maximum Pell award will cover the smallest share of college costs since the start of the program 40 years ago.
Democrats in Congress have worked to expand the Pell Grant program by passing legislation such as the Student Aid and Fiscal Responsibility Act of 2010 and the College Cost Reduction and Access Act of 2007. However, it’s clear more needs to be done to ensure the future continued efficacy of the Pell program and to support college access and success.
“To address the projected funding gap, let me first be clear about what we should not do: we should not repeat our recent history of reducing direct aid to needy students in order to finance shortfalls in the Pell Grant program,” said Dannenberg. “Instead, we should address the projected long-term Pell Grant program funding gap through ‘a balanced approach’ of increased revenue options and targeted spending reductions in aid to institutions, not to needy students.”
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