A record number of both Republican and Democratic U.S. Senators asserted the need to fully fund the Pell Grant program.
Washington, D.C.—This week, a record number of both Republican and Democratic U.S. Senators publicly signed on in support of fully funding the Pell Grant program – without cuts to benefits or eligibility. About one-third of all undergraduate students in the United States rely on Pell Grants to support their abilities to pay for college.
This U.S. Senate support follows record-breaking bipartisan support for Pell Grants in the U.S. House of Representatives, with 41 Republican and 141 Democrat public signers.
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. Senate. 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.
Last year, Congress enacted the Workforce Pell Grant program, which allows low-income students to earn a Pell Grant for short-term courses with strong job placement and earnings outcomes. The program is expected to be a miniscule portion of total Pell Grant costs.
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 U.S. Senators listed below, who have signed on to letters of support for Pell Grants. Note that additional Senators are supporting Pell Grants in the private submission to the Appropriations Committee.
Full text of Senator Tim Kaine’s (D-VA) and Senator Roger Marshall, M.D.’s (R-KS) letter is available here. The letter requests “that the federal Pell Grant program be provided with enough funding to continue its mission serving students, especially as Workforce Pell implementation draws near. […]
“Without immediate action, the program would face options such as eligibility cuts that could hurt the most vulnerable students. As champions of Workforce Pell, it is disappointing to face this reality just as the decade-long push for passage and implementation is within reach.”
Supporters of Senator Marshall’s and Senator Kaine’s letter: Leads: Tim Kaine (D-VA) and Roger Marshall, M.D. (R-KS). Signers in state order: Mark Kelly (D-AZ), Lisa Blunt Rochester (D-DE), Chris Coons (D-DE), Mike Crapo (R-ID), Jim Risch (R-ID), Angus King, Jr. (I-ME), Chris Van Hollen (D-MD), Amy Klobuchar (D-MN), Maggie Hassan (D-NH), Cory Booker (D-NJ), Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY), James Lankford (R-OK), Jeffrey Merkley (D-OR), Ron Wyden (D-OR).
Full text of Senator Mazie Hirono’s (D-HI), Senator Jack Reed’s (D-RI), and Senator Sheldon Whitehouse’s (D-RI) letter is available here. The letter requests that “the Federal Pell Grant program is funded at a level that meets the needs of students, keeping pace with inflation and preventing cuts that would keep talented students from pursuing postsecondary education. […]
“Over the long-term, we should recommit to restoring the purchasing power of the Pell Grant, move the program toward fully mandatory funding to protect against future shortfalls, and work towards doubling the maximum award.”
Supporters of Senator Mazie Hirono’s (D-HI) and Senator Jack Reed’s (D-RI) letter: Leads: Mazie Hirono (D-HI), Jack Reed (D-RI), Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI). Signers in state order: Mark Kelly (D-AZ), Ruben Gallego (D-AZ), Alex Padilla (D-CA), Adam Schiff (D-CA), Michael Bennet (D-CO), John Hickenlooper (D-CO), Richard Blumenthal (D-CT), Chris Murphy (D-CT), Chris Coons (D-DE), Lisa Blunt Rochester (D-DE), Jon Ossoff (D-GA), Raphael Warnock (D-GA), Brian Schatz (D-HI), Dick Durbin (D-IL), Tammy Duckworth (D-IL), Angus King (I-ME), Angela Alsobrooks (D-MD), Chris Van Hollen (D-MD), Elizabeth Warren (D-MA), Ed Markey (D-MA), Gary Peters (D-MI), Elissa Slotkin (D-MI), Amy Klobuchar (D-MN), Tina Smith (D-MN), Catherine Cortez Masto (D-NV), Jacky Rosen (D-NV), Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH), Maggie Hassan (D-NH), Cory Booker (D-NJ), Andy Kim (D-NJ), Martin Heinrich (D-NM), Ben Ray Luján (D-NM), Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY), Ron Wyden (D-OR), Jeff Merkley (D-OR), Bernie Sanders (I-VT), Peter Welch (D-VT), Mark Warner (D-VA), Tim Kaine (D-VA), Maria Cantwell (D-WA).
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.