Photographer: Adam Glanzman/Bloomberg
For decades, a college education has provided a pathway to upward mobility. Public universities are engines of upward mobility – lifting students from lower- and middle-income rungs of the income ladder to greater earning potential. This benefits not just graduates, but society at large as these graduates go on to contribute more in taxes, volunteer more, and contribute more to charity. Pell Grants, the federal grants making college more affordable to millions of low-income college students each year, have been instrumental in facilitating upward mobility and societal benefit.
By doubling the maximum Pell Grant to $13,000, policymakers can redouble investment in U.S. students and workers. Combined with state and institutional aid as available, this would go a long way toward covering the cost of college for in-state Pell recipients at public four-year universities. Today such grants cover just a fraction of the cost of college they did at their inception. In the 1970s, the maximum Pell Grant covered over three-quarters of the cost of attending college at a four-year public university. The maximum grant now covers just a third of the cost of college for students at these institutions, in part due to years of state disinvestment in public higher education. The declining power Pell Grants threatens to not just require students to shoulder more of the cost of college, but ultimately hamper one of the most reliable drivers of upward mobility in the United States.
Momentum is building on Capitol Hill to double the maximum Pell Grant. Last month, lawmakers introduced legislation in both houses of Congress that would do exactly that in the next several years and extend eligibility to Dreamers who were brought to the United States as minors and are Americans in everything but citizenship status. The bills would also make investment in the Pell Grant program mandatory, meaning lawmakers would not have to fund the program on an annual basis given its decades-long track record of positive impact. And to guard against future declines in the grants’ impact, the bill would make cost of living adjustments for inflation in the economy at large.
These policy reforms wouldn’t just make college more affordable; they would help address equity gaps in access to, and completion of, a college education. Nearly 60% of Black students receive Pell Grants, as do half of American Indian or Alaskan Native students. Nearly half of Latinx students receive Pell Grants each year too. The grants help level the playing field for students from underserved backgrounds, and boosting the award won’t just help more students pursue a college education but also cover costs incurred during their education that can sometimes knock them off the course to a degree. There’s a strong base of academic research showing that need-based student aid helps increase college access and completion.
Doubling the maximum Pell Grant would also rebalance support for higher education after several decades of students taking on a greater share of the cost of college. The declining power of the Pell Grant, coupled with many years of state disinvestment in public higher education, means that students at public four-year universities are paying for a greater share of their college education than ever before, a reversal of the historic role of broad-based public investment in higher education. Since 1995, average borrowing by Pell Grant recipients at public four-year universities has climbed 13% at a time when the buying power of the maximum Pell award has significantly declined. Doubling the Pell Grant, along with existing state and institutional aid, can cover most of the cost of college at public four-year universities for low-income students and minimize their debt. That’s why this week, students, higher education organizations, colleges, and universities across the country are galvanizing behind this effort through a new campaign called #DoublePell.
The federal government invests in higher education not just for students, but for society at large. Upward mobility is at the heart of the American Dream. Thanks to the opportunity their education has provided, college graduates enjoy considerably lower unemployment and higher earnings. They also pay more in taxes and are less likely to face poverty. They’re more likely to volunteer, vote, and contribute to charity. These are substantial public benefits. Doubling the Pell Grant can help millions more students access an affordable college education and have the support they need to complete a degree. That improves society whether taxpayers attend college or not.
