Washington, D.C.—This week, a record number of both Republican and Democrat members of the U.S. House of Representatives have asserted the need to fully fund the Pell Grant program. About one-third of all undergraduate students in the United States rely on Pell Grants to support their abilities to pay for college.
This support is particularly vital today, as demand for Pell Grants has risen following President Trump signing into law the bipartisan Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) Simplification Act of 2020, which has resulted in more students completing the FAFSA and qualifying for Pell Grants. As a result of this increased need, the Pell Grant is projected to have a significant budget shortfall and Congress will need to find billions of dollars to insert into the program just to keep the current maximum of $7,395.
In response to the record bipartisan support for Pell Grant funding, ACCT President and CEO Jee Hang Lee said:
“Through the FAFSA Simplification Act of 2020 signed into law by President Trump, the President and Congress have both made a strong commitment to supporting low-income students by providing sufficient funding for the Pell Grant program. Today's strong bipartisan support for Pell Grants demonstrates an understanding of the vital importance of the program. We call on both parties to work together to deliver on their promise to protect Pell Grants without cutting benefits or eligibility, and without cutting other critical programs in education or workforce development. Congress must not leave low-income students to wither on the vine."
The Association of Community College Trustees (ACCT) and its members support increased funding for the Pell Grant program, and applaud the bipartisan support in the U.S. House of Representatives. However, the association has some concern based on precedent that despite this week’s stated support, Congress may not fully deliver on students’ needs. For example, when faced with a Pell Grant shortfall in the past, Congress has sometimes enacted devastating cuts that disproportionately impacted community college students by eliminating Ability to Benefit for students without a high school degree, eliminating Year-Round/Summer Pell Grants, and slashing the number of semesters of lifetime Pell eligibility from 16 to 12. Such reductions must not happen again.
During last year's reconciliation process, Congress also threatened to eliminate Pell Grants for students enrolling in fewer than 8 credits per semester, which would eliminate Pell Grants for 400,000 part-time community college students (more than one-fifth of all community college students) juggling work, family, and school. These are among the students who have the greatest need for support—the very students for who the Pell Grant program was created.
Congress is currently deliberating the fiscal year 2027 (FY27) annual spending process. In addition to setting the annual maximum Pell Grant level, Congress must consider whether to move more, or all, Pell Grant funding from annual discretionary appropriations Congress must decide each year to mandatory funding (like Social Security); and whether Congressional leaders increase the 302b allocation for the Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education appropriations bill so that the funding for Pell does not come to the detriment of other important health, education, and workforce programs.
ACCT thanks the members of Congress listed below, who have signed on to letters of support for Pell Grants. Note that additional members of Congress are supporting Pell Grants in the private submission to the Appropriations Committee.
Supporters of Rep. Kean’s letter:
Lead: Thomas Kean (R-NJ-07). Signers in State and District order: Aumua Radewagen (R-AS-01), Kevin Kiley (I-CA-03), Young Kim (R-CA-40), Community College Caucus Co-Chair Gus Bilirakis (R-FL-12), James Moylan (R-GU-01), Mariannette Miller Meeks (R-IA-01), Zach Nunn (R-IA-03), Randy Feenstra (R-IA-04), Veterans Affairs Committee Chair Mike Bost (R-IL-12), Darin LaHood (R-IL-16), Jack Bergman (R-MI-01), Bill Huizenga (R-MI-04), Brad Finstad (R-MN-01), Kimberlyn King-Hinds (R-MP-01), National Republican Campaign Committee Chairman Richard Hudson (R-NC-09), Don Bacon (R-NE-02), Jeff Van Drew (R-NJ-02), Christopher Smith (R-NJ-04), Nicole Malliotakis (R-NY-11), Mike Lawler (R-NY-17),Max Miller (R-OH-07), Mike Carey (R-OH-15), Cliff Bentz (R-OR-02), Brian Fitzpatrick (R-PA-01), Ryan Mackenzie (R-PA-07), Rob Bresnahan (R-PA-08), Dan Meuser (R-PA-09), Agriculture Committee Chairman Glenn Thompson (R-PA-15), Mike Kelly (R-PA-16), Joe Wilson (R-SC-02), Dusty Johnson (R-SD-01), Nathaniel Moran (R-TX-01), Randy Weber (R-TX-14), Monica De La Cruz (R-TX-15), Troy Nehls (R-TX-22), Higher Education and Workforce Development Subcommittee Chairman Burgess Owens (R-UT-04), Jen Kiggans (R-VA-02), Higher Education and Workforce Development Subcommittee Vice Chairman Michael Baumgartner (R-WA-05), Carol Miller (R-WV-01), Tony Wied (R-WI-08)
Supporters of Rep. Seth Magaziner’s (D-R.I.) and Maxine Waters’s (D-Calif.) letter:
Leads: Reps. Seth Magaziner (D-RI-02) and Maxine Waters (D-CA-43). Signers: Reps. Shomari Figures (D-AL-02), Terri Sewell (D-AL-07), Adelita Grijalva (D-AZ-07), Jared Huffman (D-CA-02), Mike Thompson (D-CA-04), Ami Bera (D-CA-06), Doris Matsui (D-CA-07), John Garamendi (D-CA-08), Mark DeSaulnier (D-CA-10), Lateefah Simon (D-CA-12), Eric Swalwell (D-CA-14), Kevin Mullin (D-CA-15), Sam Liccardo (D-CA-16), Zoe Lofgren (D-CA-18), Jimmy Panetta (D-CA-19), Jim Costa (D-CA-21), Salud Carbajal (D-CA-24), Raul Ruiz (D-CA-25), Julia Brownley (D-CA-26), George Whitesides (D-CA-27), Judy Chu (D-CA-28), Luz Rivas (D-CA-29), Laura Friedman (D-CA-30), Gil Cisneros (D-CA-31), Brad Sherman (D-CA-32), Jimmy Gomez (D-CA-34), Norma Torres (D-CA-35), Ted Lieu (D-CA-36), Sydney Kamlager-Dove (D-CA-37), Mark Takano (D-CA-39), Robert Garcia (D-CA-42), Derek Tran (D-CA-45), Lou Correa (D-CA-46), Dave Min (D-CA-47), Scott Peters (D-CA-50), Juan Vargas (D-CA-52), Diana DeGette (D-CO-01), Joe Neguse (D-CO-02), Jason Crow (D-CO-06), Brittany Pettersen (D-CO-07), John Larson (D-CT-01), Community College Caucus Co-Chair Joe Courtney (D-CT-02), Jim Himes (D-CT-04), Jahana Hayes (D-CT-05), Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-DC-01), Sarah McBride (D-DE-01), Maxwell Frost (D-FL-10), Frederica Wilson (D-FL-24), Sanford Bishop (D-GA-02), Hank Johnson (D-GA-04), Nikema Williams (D-GA-05), Lucy McBath (D-GA-07), David Scott (D-GA-13), Jill Tokuda (D-HI-02), Jonathan Jackson (D-IL-01), Robin Kelly (D-IL-02), Delia Ramirez (D-IL-03), Jesus Garcia (D-IL-04), Sean Casten (D-IL-06), Danny Davis (D-IL-07), Raja Krishnamoorthi (D-IL-08), Jan Schakowsky (D-IL-09), Brad Schneider (D-IL-10), Bill Foster (D-IL-11), Nikki Budzinski (D-IL-13), Andre Carson (D-IN-07), Sharice Davids (D-KS-03), Morgan McGarvey (D-KY-03), Troy Carter (D-LA-02), Cleo Fields (D-LA-06), Ways and Means Committee Ranking Member Richard Neal (D-MA-01), Jim McGovern (D-MA-02), Lori Trahan (D-MA-03), Jake Auchincloss (D-MA-04), Seth Moulton (D-MA-06), Ayanna Pressley (D-MA-07), Stephen Lynch (D-MA-08), William Keating (D-MA-09), Johnny Olszewski (D-MD-02), Sarah Elfreth (D-MD-03), Jamie Raskin (D-MD-08), Chellie Pingree (D-ME-01), Debbie Dingell (D-MI-06), Rashida Tlaib (D-MI-12), Shri Thanedar (D-MI-13), Angie Craig (D-MN-02), Ilhan Omar (D-MN-05), Wesley Bell (D-MO-01), Bennie Thompson (D-MS-02), Don Davis (D-NC-01), Higher Education and Workforce Development Subcommittee Ranking Member Alma Adams (D-NC-12), Chris Pappas (D-NH-01), Donald Norcross (D-NJ-01), Josh Gottheimer (D-NJ-05), Frank Pallone (D-NJ-06), Rob Menendez (D-NJ-08), LaMonica McIver (D-NJ-10), Melanie Stansbury (D-NM-01), Dina Titus (D-NV-01), Susie Lee (D-NV-03), Tom Suozzi (D-NY-03), Yvette Clarke (D-NY-09), Dan Goldman (D-NY-10), Jerrold Nadler (D-NY-12), Ritchie Torres (D-NY-15), George Latimer (D-NY-16), Paul Tonko (D-NY-20), Tim Kennedy (D-NY-26), Greg Landsman (D-OH-01), Joyce Beatty (D-OH-03), Emilia Sykes (D-OH-13), Suzanne Bonamici (D-OR-01), Maxine Dexter (D-OR-03), Val Hoyle (D-OR-04), Janelle Bynum (D-OR-05), Andrea Salinas (D-OR-06), Budget Committee Ranking Member Brendan Boyle (D-PA-02), Dwight Evans (D-PA-03), Summer Lee (D-PA-12), Gabe Amo (D-RI-01), Steve Cohen (D-TN-09), Lizzie Fletcher (D-TX-07), Joaquin Castro (D-TX-20), Sylvia Garcia (D-TX-29), Julie Johnson (D-TX-32), Vicente Gonzalez (D-TX-34), Greg Casar (D-TX-35), Lloyd Doggett (D-TX-37), Robert Scott (D-VA-03), Donald Beyer (D-VA-08), Stacey Plaskett (D-VI-01), Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee Chair Suzan DelBene (D-WA-01),Rick Larsen (D-WA-02), Emily Randall (D-WA-06), Pramila Jayapal (D-WA-07), Kim Schrier (D-WA-08), Adam Smith (D-WA-09), Marilyn Strickland (D-WA-10), and Gwen Moore (D-WI-04)
For more information about Pell Grants and ACCT’s position on legislation that affects community colleges, contact Carrie Warick-Smith at [email protected] or (202) 775-6488.