Last Friday, President Joe Biden released his first discretionary funding request for fiscal year 2022. As part of his request to Congress, he included a $400 increase to the
maximum Pell Grant, an expansion of Pell Grant eligibility to DACA recipients, and investment in both K-12 Title I schools and institutions of higher education.
The budget document called the Pell Grant increase a “first step in a more comprehensive proposal” geared toward the goal to double the Pell Grant. It also explicitly noted that the investment is intended to “help shrink racial gaps in higher education.”
NCAN Executive Director Kim Cook said the budget proposal news, “is an encouraging sign of movement toward the goal to double the Pell Grant.” She continued, “NCAN applauds President Biden’s proposal to expand Pell Grants to DACA recipients who meet the
income eligibility requirements. This change in Pell Grant eligibility is a step toward a more equitable need-based federal aid system.”
NCAN has stated policy goals to both double the maximum Pell Grant and to expand eligibility to DREAMers with qualifying incomes. Seeing these
goals clearly articulated in the president’s budget is an important step toward addressing affordability gaps in higher education for our students.
Doubling the maximum Pell Grant would restore the grant’s purchasing power to half the cost of attendance for a bachelor’s degree at an in-state, public institution. For the current academic year, that would mean increasing from $6,345 to $12,690 and
raising the purchasing power to 56%.
In December, Congress set the 2021-22 maximum Pell Grant at $6,495. If Congress funds the president’s request, the $6,895 maximum Pell Grant would raise the purchasing power from its current 28% to 31% for 2022-23.
What Happens Next
Congress is not required to fund the president’s vision for the Pell Grant program. A president’s budget proposal is their request to Congress to fund the priorities of the administration – it’s not a mandate.
Lawmakers will begin the appropriations, process this spring, most likely not finishing until near the beginning of the 2022 fiscal year on Oct. 1, 2021. The president must then sign the appropriations bills.
NCAN encourages the Biden-Harris administration to continue investing in the Pell Grant program through its upcoming American Families Plan and asks Congress to join the administration in its commitment to significantly increasing the purchasing power
of the Pell Grant.
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