“College affordability” might sound like an oxymoron, considering that college tuition has outpaced inflation for decades, and the $1.73 trillion in U.S. student debt is a staggering figure.
So how can a college president even dare to talk about making the cost of higher education accessible?
It’s a complex problem — and I will not shy away from a challenge. Plus, making college affordable for all students, regardless of their background, is critical to building a more just and equitable society.
I won’t pretend that there is a single answer to making college affordable for American families, but there is a successful, bipartisan federal program that already pays for itself.
The federal Pell Grant program provides between $672 and $6,495 per year for students to pursue higher education. How much a student receives depends on their financial need.
Approximately 90% of Pell Grant recipients come from households earning less than $50,000 per year, with the majority coming from households earning less than $20,000 per year.
Since 1972, Pell Grants have allowed lower-income Americans to attend college. And while college isn’t for everyone, those who complete their degree go on to earn an average of $1 million more over their lifetimes than those without degrees. The additional taxes they pay more than cover the aid they receive during their college years.
But today’s maximum Pell Grant is not enough. It hasn’t kept up with the cost of education, and the program doesn’t currently serve enough of the middle-class families who are increasingly struggling to pay for college.
In the mid-1970s, the maximum Pell Grant covered the full cost of attendance of an average public two-year education; today the maximum award covers just half. Similarly, a student receiving the full amount in the program’s early days could expect Pell to cover more than three-quarters of a public four-year education; today, it covers less than a third of the cost.
Doubling the Pell Grant maximum amount to nearly $13,000, as many are now calling on Congress to do, would dramatically increase the reach of this effective and popular program.
Nearly 118,000 Colorado students receive more than $453 million in Pell Grants today. By doubling the grant’s maximum award, the lowest-income families would see Pell cover significantly more of the cost of their education, and the program would be extended to help more middle-class families not currently covered by Pell.
Doubling the Pell Grant maximum won’t significantly help students at Colorado College, where I recently became president, because we are fortunate to have the resources to meet 100% of a family’s need-based aid. Even so, the number of students receiving Pell Grants at Colorado College increased from 201 students in Fall 2012 (10.01% of the student population) to 320 students in Fall 2021 (14.27%). The number in Fall 2019, before COVID hit, was 245 students, or 11.62%, perhaps a more sustainable number once COVID subsides.
However, doubling the Pell Grant maximum will help those students who don’t attend the limited number of schools that meet full need, which is the vast majority of colleges and universities in the United States.
And virtually all colleges and universities would be able to attract and retain a more diverse student body if the Pell Grant program were expanded, including colleges such as mine. That is a goal worthy of us all.
America is a nation built on the premise that everyone deserves a fair shot to work hard and succeed. But we know that socioeconomic factors, as well as racial and gender inequities, persist.
Higher education can be an equalizing force, and Pell Grants have a successful track record in leveling the playing field because they are based on demonstrated financial need.
Approximately 58% of Black students, 39% of student veterans, and nearly half of the nation’s first-generation students receive Pell Grants.
Certainly, there is more work to do. Many states are underfunding their public institutions of higher education. All higher education institutions need to be stewarding resources carefully and investing in student success.
But with a program as successful as Pell has been, the common-sense solution of increasing our investment in Pell will be a powerful starting point.
L. Song Richardson is the president of Colorado College.
To send a letter to the editor about this article, submit online or check out our guidelines for how to submit by email or mail.
