Today, the House Committee on Education and Labor is discussing its proposal to dramatically change the landscape of higher education over the next decade.
The legislation proposes spending $761 billion on various programs within the committee's jurisdiction. It is part of the broader $3.5 trillion budget reconciliation package, an effort by Democrats to enact their domestic agenda that heavily features
President Biden’s American Families Plan and American Jobs Plan.
The House education committee bill would make the following investments in higher education:
Increase the maximum Pell Grant by $500, in addition to annual appropriations increases, each year through the 2029-30 award year.
Extend federal student aid eligibility to immigrants with DACA or TPS status.
Create a free community college tuition program and college completion grant program for states that opt in.
Invest in Historically Black Colleges and Universities, Tribal Colleges and Universities, and Minority Serving Institutions.
Additionally, this bill would invest in the AmeriCorps program, provide funds for K-12 school facilities construction and improvement, fund childcare and universal preschool, and address childhood nutrition.
“This bill presents a historic opportunity to address college affordability for all students from low-income backgrounds by investing in the Pell Grant program,” says Kim Cook, CEO of the National College Attainment Network. “We urge Congress to meet
this moment by fully funding the President’s request of $1,475 toward a path to double the Pell Grant in the coming years.”
NCAN supports a doubling of the Pell Grant so that the maximum award would cover half the cost of attendance for a bachelor’s degree at a public college.
The $500 Pell Grant investment proposed in the House bill would be paired with the $400 increase to the award passed by the House earlier this summer through its annual appropriations process. A total increase of $900 would make a substantial difference
in students’ ability to afford college, but it is just the first step on the road to double the Pell Grant.
This combined increase from the House would add $900 to the maximum award for 2022-23, for a total max grant of $7,395. A Pell Grant of this size would boost the purchasing power of the award from 28% of the cost of attendance if there is no increase
to 32% of that cost with the increase.
This legislation from the House Education and Labor Committee would make significant changes to the higher education landscape beyond the Pell Grant program as well. It would create a new federal-state partnership in the form of free community college
tuition and make the largest-ever investment in college completion. Further, it meets a key priority of NCAN to extend financial aid eligibility to immigrant students with Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) status and temporary protected
status.
NCAN is encouraged to see the committee’s recognition of the need to address college affordability, student aid access for immigrant students, and college completion. NCAN will continue to work with members of the House as this bill moves through the
committee to a vote by the full chamber.
Additionally, NCAN will work with the Senate, which will also need to consider this bill and most likely will make changes. NCAN will encourage the Senate to seek an avenue to increase the bump to the maximum Pell Grant award.
NCAN members are still encouraged to contact their members of Congress via our action center to share the importance of increasing the Pell Grant. It is particularly important to contact your state’s U.S. senators given the Senate will next take up this bill.
The next step for this legislation after today’s committee markup is a vote on the House floor. Then, the Senate will take up the bill and likely make changes. If and when the bill passes the Senate with changes, the House will then need to approve
the new version.
What's in the Legislation?
Increase the maximum Pell Grant by $500 each year through the 2029-30 award year.
Summary: This bill would increase the Pell Grant by $500 each year through 2029-30. This increase will be a mandatory add-on to whatever level is set for the Pell Grant in the annual appropriations process.
NCAN’s Take: Five hundred dollars is a significant amount to students and begins the pathway to Double Pell. However, greater investment is needed to close the affordability gap, particularly at four-year institutions. NCAN strongly urges Congress
to continue its annual discretionary increases as well as chart a pathway to fully reach double Pell.
Extend federal student aid eligibility to immigrants with DACA or TPS status.
Summary: Students who currently have the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals status or temporary protective status would become eligible for federal grants, loans, and work-study through 2030.
NCAN’s Take: NCAN strongly supports this provision to provide aid to all of our students. However, eligible students who do not have DACA status currently are unable to apply for it due to challenges to the DACA program in the court system. The
broader reconciliation bill also includes a pathway to citizenship, which would provide students with stability as well as financial aid access.
Create a free community college tuition program for states that opt-in.
Summary: This bill creates the America’s College Promise, a federal-state partnership that creates a free community college program in states that opt-in, through 2027-28.
The program is a universal, first-dollar program, meaning students who participate will not be charged tuition and fees regardless of their financial aid eligibility. Students who are eligible for a Pell Grant would use their Pell funds toward the
cost of attendance beyond tuition and fees. Students cannot be turned away due to citizenship or immigration status.
The federal match rate is high, with the federal government covering all costs for the first year, with states kicking in 5% in the second year, and increasing by 5 percentage points each year through the five-year program. Tribal Colleges and Universities
(TCUs) receive a 100% match for the entire five years. States are required to meet a maintenance of effort (MOE) requirement so that they do not cut previously provided funding. This program is more generous from the federal government than the
one proposed as part of the America’s College Promise Act earlier this summer.
U.S. citizens participating in the program must complete a Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA). Additionally, states must commit to sharing information with participants on other federal benefit programs for which they may be eligible
and could help cover their full cost of attendance. NCAN proposed a version of this notification due to feedback from NCAN members
that students in states with promise programs frequently believed they no longer needed to complete the FAFSA.
Participating states must align high school graduation requirements with community college entrance requirements. They must also design a pathways system with articulation agreements to transfer the associate degrees to public bachelor’s-degree-granting
institutions.
States may employ unused funds from this grant toward students' unmet need beyond tuition and fees, toward reducing unmet need at four-year institutions of higher education, toward evidence-based programs that increase completion, and toward dual
or concurrent enrollment courses.
NCAN’s Take: This program meets several of NCAN’s principles for free college, such as a first-dollar design. However, it does not meet a key priority: expanding the program to cover four-year institutions, which provide a broader range of match
and fit options for students.
Design a college completion grant program for states.
Summary: This bill creates a College Completion Fund for states participating in the America’s College Promise free community college tuition program. Participating states may use funds on evidence-based practices to increase persistence, transfer,
graduation, and labor market outcomes. The program is proposed to provide $9 billion in grants over seven years.
NCAN’s Take: NCAN supports a federal college completion fund to increase state graduation rates. This fund is particularly important for community colleges, as
they disproportionately serve NCAN students and have lower graduation rates. NCAN recommends that any state be able to apply to participate.
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