Doubling Down on Doubling the Pell Grant
As the nation rebuilds from the economic downturn brought on by COVID-19, current and incoming students will require additional financial support to help pay for college. One clear option is to double down on the one mechanism we already have in federal law designed to target funding to low-income students by doubling the maximum Pell Grant award available to students. Pell Grants are the foundation of our national investment in higher education, and they help pave the way for nearly 7 million low- and middle-income students to attend and complete college. However, the current maximum Pell Grant covers less than one-third of the cost of attending a four-year college. To boost the grant’s purchasing power and help make college an option for more students who are currently in crisis, Congress should invest in and protect the Pell Grant program.
Why THE PELL GRANT MATTERS
The Pell Grant program is the foundation of college aid for over 7 million students annually, including nearly 60 percent of Black students and nearly half of Hispanic students.
#DoublePell LetterNASFAA Report: How Middle-Income Families Benefit When the Maximum Pell Award is IncreasedNew America Report: Restoring the Promise of Higher EducationNew America Report: Equipping Individuals for Life Beyond BarsCAP Report: Mounting Peril for Public Higher Education During the Coronavirus PandemicIHEP Report: Defend Students, Don't Raid Pell Grant Funding!Lumina Report: Pell Grant Mission CreepEd Trust Report: Investing in Pell is Investing in the American DreamUNCF Report: HBCUs Testify Before CongressUNCF Report: President of Lane College a Witness in Senate HELP Committee HearingThird Way Report: Why We Should Double the Pell GrantThird Way Video: The Case for Doubling the Pell Grant
HOW PELL MAKES COLLEGE AFFORDABLE
Unlike student loans, Pell Grants do not have to be repaid, eliminating or significantly reducing college debt.
Excelencia Report: How can policy help Latinos afford a degree?NCAN Report: The Growing Gap Tableau DashboardNCAN Policy Proposal: Restore the purchasing power of the Pell GrantTICAS Report: Redefining Full-Time Pell Grants Reduces College AccessTICAS Report: An Arbitrary Maximum Income Cap Would Eliminate Pell Grants for Needy StudentsTICAS Report: Pell Grants Help Keep College Affordable for Millions of AmericansThird Way Report: Sharing the Risk for Students' and Taxpayers' Pell Grant Investment
New America Report: Americans Are Split on College Costs and Who Should PayCAP Report: Affordability Principles for Reauthorizing the Higher Education ActCAP Report: Trump’s Latest Budget Proposal Would Deepen the Student Debt CrisisHLA Report: 3 Ways Federal Policy Solutions Can Level the Playing Field in Higher Education and the EconomyYI Report: Changing the Expected Family Contribution Formula to Serve Today’s StudentsExcelencia in Education Report: We need to expand the college affordability conversationLumina Report: Impact of Pell Grant Eligibility On Financial Aid Packages, Labor Supply and Academic OutcomesLumina Report: Pell Grants cover a dwindling share of college costs as students borrow moreNCAN Report: College Affordability Gap Grows for Students from Low-Income Backgrounds
WHO BENEFITS FROM PELL GRANTS?
Most Pell Grant dollars go to students and families that make under $40,000 a year, a group currently facing a disproportionately high unemployment rate.
New America Report: How Would a 5-Year Restriction on Pell Eligibility Impact Incarcerated Adults if the Pell Ban is Lifted?CAP Report: New Insights Into Attainment for Low-Income StudentsYI Report: Graduates of PellExcelencia in Education Report: Latinos in Higher Education & Pell GrantsEd Trust Report: The ‘Black Tax’ Is Key to Understanding and Solving the Black Student Debt Crisis in the Time of COVID-19 and BeyondThird Way Report: The Pell Divide: How Four-Year Institutions are Failing to Graduate Low- and Moderate-Income StudentsUNCF Report: UNCF Delivers State of the HBCU Address as Part of 75th CelebrationUnidos U.S. Report: A Path Forward for Latinos: Laying the Groundwork for Equity in Higher EducationSTUDENT VOICE: Doubling the Pell Grant will make college a reality for more students like me
How to strengthen pell
Congress must immediately act to double the maximum Pell Grant award and set the Pell Grant to automatically adjust for inflation each year.
NAICU Video: Give Em PellEd Trust Report: Ed Trust Welcomes Comprehensive Higher Education Proposal from House DemocratsNew America Medium Post: How We Can Double the Pell GrantTICAS Report: How to Secure and Strengthen Pell Grants to Increase College Access and SuccessTICAS Report: Pell Grants for Short-Term Programs The Rationale and the RisksTICAS Report: Safeguards Are Needed for Any Extension of Pell Grants to Short-Term ProgramsTICAS Report: WHY IT’S TIME TO #DoublePellThird Way Q&A: Expanding Pell Grants to Shorter-Term ProgramsThird Way Report: Preserve the Reserve: Why the Pell ‘Surplus’ Isn’t ExpendableThird Way Report: Protecting Federal Dollars Flowing to New Short-Term Programs of Higher EducationUniversity of California: Double Pell WebsiteHow Doubling the Pell Grant Could Be a Down Payment on Free College
In THE NEWS
5-9-33The Wall Street Journal Is Wrong About Pell Grants4-13-22 Biden Wants to Double the Maximum Pell Grant. What Difference Would That Make?4-9-22 How Can We Fix the College Affordability Problem?11-4-21 Access to Higher Education is the Gateway, Degree Completion is the Goal. Doubling the Pell Grant Will Help10-18-21 Biden and Congress Must Double the Pell Grant8-16-21 Republicans are Wrong; Doubling the Pell Grant Is Good Policy8-5-21 Building a Campaign to Double Pell7-21-21 Jesuit colleges are committed to serving low-income students. If Joe Biden doubled the Pell Grant, we could serve more.7-21-21 News Byte: Jennifer Griffiths, Ph.D., Shares Her Pell Grant Story7-14-21 How to make good colleges want low-income students7-13-21 Now Is The Time To #DoublePell7-2-21 College students are struggling and that's why doubling the Pell Grant will help | Opinion6-25-21 Doubling Pell Has Broad Support, but Is It Attainable?6-17-21 Democrats Propose to Double Pell Grant Over Five Years5-19-21 Report: Doubling the Pell Grant Could Serve as Precursor to Free College2-16-21 The economic case for doubling the Pell Grant1-30-21 The quickest and most effective way Biden can help millions of Americans go to college11-20-20 Will Biden be able to double the Pell Grant?10-15-20 New Students at U.S. Colleges Drop, Worsening Campus Crisis8-4-20 OPINION: The dire need for significant federal investment in U.S. colleges and their students7-21-20 A New Call to Increase Pell7-14-20 Doubling the Pell Grant is crucial for the future of our students and the economy6-17-20 Congress Needs to Prevent A Flight from College5-21-20 John B. King Jr. Testimony On FY 2021 Funding Before the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Labor, Health and Human Services, Education and Related Agencies5-18-20 TICAS Joint Pell Letter5-1-20 Amid COVID-19, Doubling Pell Grants is the Next Urgent Need for HBCUs, Says UNCF7-8-19 Brewing Battle Over Pell Grants
EVENTS CALENDAR
This is a running list of events on or about doubling the Pell Grant. If you'd like your event added to the calendar, please fill out the events form.
Speak Directly with Experts Working to Make this Happen
Matt Owens
Association of American Universities (AAU)
matt.owens@aau.eduLindsey Tepe
Association of Public and Land-Grant Universities (APLU)
ltepe@aplu.orgJulie Peller
Higher Learning Advocates
jpeller@higherlearningadvocates.orgMamie Voight
IHEP
mvoight@ihep.orgWayne Taliaferro
Lumina
wtaliaferro@luminafoundation.org
Reid Setzer
The Education Trust
rsetzer@edtrust.orgMichele Streeter
The Institute for College Access & Success (TICAS)
mstreeter@ticas.orgLodriguez Murray
UNCF
Lodriguez.Murray@uncf.org