Published: September 2017

Pell Grants remain in jeopardy, impacting vulnerable low-income students

Student debt is hitting record highs and low-income students already graduate with the most debt. Yet some in Congress are planning to raid Pell Grant funds to spend them on other programs. These Pell funds are reserved to help make sure the most financially vulnerable college students don't have to borrow even more. Pell Grants are essential for providing low- and middle-income students the opportunity to attend and complete college, and pursue careers in an economy that increasingly requires a postsecondary education.

70 organizations representing students, veterans, colleges, consumers and the business community have written a letter urging Senate appropriators to reject any further cuts to Pell Grants when they mark up their Fiscal Year 2018 (FY18) Labor, Health, Human Services and Education (LHHS) spending bill. The Fiscal Year 2017 spending agreement already cut $1.3 billion from Pell Grants, and over the summer House appropriators approved another $3.3 billion cut to the program in their version of the FY18 education spending bill.

Advocates urge Congress to use existing education spending funds to increase the maximum Pell Grant to make up for the loss of the grant's annual inflation adjustment. And to include an overall funding agreement that allocates adequate resources to support all of the important federal labor, health, human service, and education related programs in the FY18 spending bill.

Lead Organization

The Institute for College Access & Success (TICAS)

Other Organizations

10,000 Degrees | Achieve Atlanta | Active Advocacy Coalition | Alliance for Youth Action | American Association of State Colleges and Universities (AASCU) | American Association of University Women (AAUW) | American Council on Education (ACE) | American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME) American Federation of Teachers (AFT) | Association of Catholic Colleges and Universities (ACCU) | Association of Public and Land-grant Universities (APLU) | ASUM (Associated Students of the University of Missouri) | AVID Center | Cal State Student Association (CSSA) | Center for Law and Social Policy (CLASP) | Chicago Urban League | College Beyond | College Bound St. Louis | College Forward | College Now Greater Cleveland | College Possible | CollegeTracks | Consumer Action | Denver Scholarship Foundation | East Bay Leadership Council | First Graduate | Generation Progress | Georgetown University Center on Education and the Workforce | Hispanic Association of Colleges and Universities (HACU) | Higher Ed, Not Debt (HEND) | iMentor | Institute for Higher Education Policy (IHEP) | John Burton Advocates for Youth | Latino U College Access | LeadMN (formerly the Minnesota State College Student Association) League of United Latin American Citizens (LULAC) | Lenawee College Access Network | Los Angeles Area Chamber of Commerce | NAACP | The Education Trust | The Higher Education Loan Coalition | The Institute for College Access & Success (TICAS) | The National Association of State Student Grant and Aid Programs (NASSGAP) The Scholarship Foundation of St. Louis | The Tennessee College Access and Success Network | TRiO Programs at Virginia Tech | uAspire | UNCF | United States Student Association (USSA) | University of California Student Association | U.S. PIRG | Veterans Education Success (VES) | Washington Student Association | Women Employed | Wyman Center | Yes We Must Coalition | Young Invincibles

More Information

For more information, please visit TICAS.

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Pell Grants remain in jeopardy, impacting vulnerable low-income students   (fy18_senate_appropriations_letter-PELL.pdf)