The Pell Grant only covers about 29 percent of college costs, compared to 80 percent at the height of its purchasing power.
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Despite a multibillion-dollar budget deficit for the Pell Grant program, higher education advocates are calling on Congress to increase the maximum award by $200 ahead of this year’s budget negotiations.
That’s because after three years of flat funding, the Pell Grant—a need-based aid program that has helped low-income college students cover the costs of attending college for more than 50 years—isn’t as valuable as it once was. According to an estimate from the National College Attainment Network, if Pell had kept pace with inflation, the maximum grant would be $8,109, or $714 more than the current maximum of $7,395. At the peak of its purchasing power in the 1970s, the Pell Grant covered 80 percent of cost of attendance; nowadays, it covers about 29 percent.
And that makes it harder for low-income students to pay for college, even as net tuition and fees have plateaued or fallen at most higher education institutions in recent years, advocates say.
