For several years and particularly since the beginning of the pandemic, NCAN has advocated for the urgent need to increase Pell Grant funding.
This month, Congress is poised to take the first step in making double Pell a reality.
Congress is currently designing a spending package of up to $3.5 trillion that will cover a wide range of Democratic priorities. In higher education, Congress must decide:
How much to increase the Pell Grant.
How much to invest in historically black colleges and universities and minority-serving institutions.
Whether and how to create a nationwide free community college program.
Whether and how to design a new state grant program, the College Completion Fund, to help create "student-ready colleges."
NCAN’s top priority for this bill is an increase to the need-based Pell Grant.
We are urging our members to ask Congress for a Pell Grant increase of $1,475 for the 2022-23 award year. This is the amount that President Biden requested in the American Families Plan.
This increase would be a big first step toward doubling the maximum Pell Grant, which meets NCAN’s goal of restoring the purchasing power of the grant to 50% of the cost of attendance for a bachelor’s degree
from a public, in-state institution.
Beyond a higher maximum Pell Grant, NCAN also shared with key congressional committees additional, detailed recommendations for
this bill, called the budget reconciliation bill. NCAN suggests that:
Pathways to bachelor’s degrees be added to any free community college program so that students can use this benefit toward either type of degree.
Students participating in any "free college" program be given information about the additional financial aid available to them by completing the FAFSA.
The College Completion Fund be fast-tracked to help higher education institutions prepare for new students before a likely increase in enrollment from a "free college" program.
Because Congress is using the budget reconciliation process for this bill, it means they will be considering a wide swath of priorities across all government programs and agencies. Further, this special budgetary process is not subject to the Senate filibuster
process, meaning Democrats can use their simple majorities in both chambers to send the final bill to the P\president’s desk.
As part of this process, Congress will consider other education priorities as well, such as universal pre-K. They will also be discussing broader policies, such as creating a pathway to citizenship for undocumented individuals and temporary protected
status holders, expanding Medicaid, and making permanent the expanded child tax credit.
NCAN supports our DACAmented and undocumented students in their right to citizenship and access to federal financial aid.
Congress is working toward a deadline of Sept. 15 to complete the drafting of this immense package.
Back-to-school season is a busy time of year, but this is a crucial moment to support students at the systemic level as well by advocating for Congress to substantially increase Pell Grant funding for next year.
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