91ɬÂþ

Get stories like this delivered straight to your inbox. Sign up for 91ɬÂþ Newsletter

Right now, undergraduate students around the country are getting ready to start or return to college. of them have one thing in common: relying on a Pell Grant to help pay for their higher education. But the grant program is facing a that will undermine college access and success unless Congress fixes the funding gap. 

The is the primary federal grant that helps low and middle-income students pay for college. Students can use the funds for tuition, books and living costs like rent and food.Ìý 

Students who rely on Pell funding cannot make an accurate plan to pay for college if they are unable to rely on the program being adequately funded for the whole time they are enrolled.  

Congress wisely made to the Pell Grant program at the end of the first Trump administration as part of the . Those changes created a , based on family income and assets, that is used to determine how much financial aid a student is eligible for. The changes adjusted the eligibility threshold for Pell Grants, making eligible for the grants and about eligible for the maximum grant amount.Ìý

These eligibility changes, along with an increase in college enrollment, mean more students are receiving the grants than anticipated. Because Pell is funded through , Congress has to estimate how much funding is needed. When the funding estimates are too low, there is a shortfall that requires additional appropriations. 

More students going to college — especially more low-income and first generation students — is the definition of a good problem to have. Students have been responding positively to the simpler FAFSA process and College applications rose by 5% for the coming academic year, according to , and just a few weeks ago, the high school class of 2026 set a .Ìý

Taken together, these represent rare examples of policy changes rapidly achieving the hoped-for outcomes of increasing college access. But this progress will be undermined if Congress jeopardizes millions of students’ Pell Grants by failing to fully fund the program.  

There are positive signs that this administration and Congress are willing to fix the Pell shortfall. The President’s proposed funding to maintain the current maximum grant, but no additional funds to fill the shortfall. Congress is currently considering , along with a $50 increase to the maximum grant. But the House funding proposal approved in committee would come at the expense of subsidized federal student loans. This approach, which I urge the Senate not to adopt, would add to the loan balances of the lowest income student loan borrowers. Many of them are the same students who rely on Pell Grant funding.Ìý

The maximum Pell Grant of $7,395 is already lower than it should be. Today, the max grant covers 30% of average tuition, housing and food costs at public colleges, down from 79% of those expenses in 1975. If the maximum grant had simply kept pace with inflation since 2022, the last time it was increased, . An extra $50 is a positive if insufficient step in the right direction. 

If the maximum Pell Grant is suddenly and significantly cut, rather than increasing as it should, millions of students will struggle to cover tuition or even have to drop out of school. Further, students currently planning on going to college may decide they can’t afford to enroll.Ìý

Financial challenges are already the that students have to stop attending college. There is also strong evidence that every increases graduation rates by 1.5 percentage points. Similar sized cuts are almost certain to reduce graduation rates by a similar percentage, reversing progress on college graduation rates that have been steadily increasing.Ìý 

Lower graduation rates are likely to disproportionally impact first-generation and low-income students. This would reverse the we are seeing for the students who have the most to gain from higher education. They know exactly how valuable college is, because they know exactly what it looks like when a lack of education limits your options.  

These are the students our members at the support, the ones furthest from opportunity. They deserve the chance to succeed in college. Ultimately, being able to choose whether to pursue higher education, regardless of family wealth, is the most American of ideas, reflecting that we should give everyone a fair chance and the freedom to choose their path in life.

Did you use this article in your work?

We’d love to hear how 91ɬÂþ’s reporting is helping educators, researchers, and policymakers.