The Virginia General Assembly originally passed legislation in 2022 (HB30) that allocated $25 million that provided funding to state-supported postsecondary
colleges and universities to expand the enrollment, retention, and degree attainment of Pell Grant-eligible students. This funding allocation has now grown to $112 million for their fiscal year 2026 budget. This effort may be in the
category of a state having great foresight or an attempt to reduce the amount of Pell Grant dollars not utilized by Virginia students. The National College Attainment Network's (NCAN) “Pell Dollars Left on the Table” report indicates that the Class of 2023 from Virginia left approximately $85 million dollars in Pell dollars unused. On the other hand, Congress had passed in 2020 FAFSA Simplification, which was
projected to make more students than ever eligible for the Pell Grant with a new formula. Whichever the case, NCAN applauds what we see as the first statewide effort to attract, keep and graduate Pell-eligible students at several Virginia colleges.
The program is managed by the State Council of Higher Education for Virginia (SCHEV) along with consultants. It consists of an institutionally based grant program for public four-year colleges and the
Virginia Community College System. The program began in the spring of 2023 with the first round of proposals available. As of September 2024, 16 universities and the community college system have
received 50 grants totaling over $73 million dollars. Multiple areas of a university are eligible to apply for and receive a grant. The applicants have to conduct a thorough institution-side review of institution rules, policies, procedures, practices
and traditions that could be considered barriers to students eligible for a Pell Grant. Grants should look at ways to reduce or eliminate the barriers without causing any issues for the institution.
The fourth round of Call for Proposals is currently available and due January 6, 2025. Institutions can and will receive multiple rounds of funding to carry out the work and grant periods can range from one to four years. An annual report mandated by
the legislature is due each October 1 for the duration of the program. The first annual report is available here and contains some incomplete information as the report due date and some Virginia college census dates do not line up. This program was
established just prior to what many consider the “FAFSA Debacle” for the 2024-25 Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) rollout. We will need to wait until the second report next fall to see the impact of the FAFSA process on Virginia students
at these institutions.
One of the activities funded by these grants will support a statewide data-based assessment for adopting and conducting strategies that will increase attendance and completion by Pell Grant students. The report does lay out the challenges of the initial
year of implementation such timing of the grants, recruitment cycles, changing student behavior and inadequate timeframe of the work for determining attainment rates. For the current academic year, the FAFSA challenges which led to delayed timelines
by colleges, especially for award notifications, presented tremendous obstacles. However, the report does contain short summaries of activities conducted by the awardees that show promise. Activities conducted by these colleges were done in these
various areas:
Building relationships with high schools
Providing communication strategies for outreach and recruitment activities
Recognizing the reality of basic needs support
Providing enhanced administrative and support services
Fostering a sense of belonging on campus
Providing financial aid and scholarships
Data being tracked for these reports include the change in Pell-eligible FAFSAs submitted, change in Pell-eligible first-time, full-time students, and the change in the retention gap of non-Pell to Pell eligible cohorts.
NCAN plans to closely monitor this work in Virginia in an effort to share with our other state partners effective policies and strategies that can increase the recruitment, retainment, and degrees earned by this critical set up students arriving on college
campuses.
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