Casten, Lee Reintroduce Bill to Index Pell Grant to Inflation
Washington, D.C. — Today, Representatives Sean Casten (IL-06) and Susie Lee (NV-03) reintroduced the Pell Grant Sustainability Act to help students access the resources they need to attend college by indexing the Pell Grant to inflation.
“The Pell Grant has made major inroads in helping Americans of all backgrounds earn their degrees,” said Rep. Sean Casten. “But this success cannot be sustained if the value of these grants continues to diminish as costs rise. I’m proud to introduce the Pell Grant Sustainability Act with Congresswoman Lee to ensure these grants continue to open doors to education for generations to come.”
“Pell Grants helped me get through college. Today, however, Pell Grants represent the smallest share of tuition than they ever have,” said Congresswoman Susie Lee. “As a lifelong education advocate, we’re reintroducing the Pell Grant Sustainability Act so that these grants can keep pace with the rising costs of higher education and help make the dream of higher education a reality for more Americans.”
“Student loan debt is pauperizing an entire generation of Americans, even as the incoming administration and congressional majority pledge to make student debt even more expensive,” said Randi Weingarten, president of the American Federation of Teachers. “Instead of pulling the rug out from under students, federal leaders must try to help make higher education affordable and accessible to all. Rep. Sean Casten’s Pell Grant Sustainability Act will help to address this by making sure the maximum Pell Grant award increases at least as much as inflation does each year. We support this commonsense solution and look forward to working with Congress to relieve the crushing burden of student loan debt for all students.”
Pell Grants enable more than 6 million Americans annually to attend college. However, the purchasing power of the Federal Pell Grant has been in rapid decline. In the academic year 1974-1975, the total maximum Federal Pell Grant covered more than 80% of base educational costs at public 4-year institutions for higher education. In the academic year 2020-2021, the maximum Pell Grant covered less than 30% of those costs.
With Pell Grants becoming less valuable each year, students who depend on them are left struggling to afford tuition, requiring them to either take on enormous amounts of debt or forgo their pursuit of higher education altogether.
The Pell Grant Sustainability Act is cosponsored by Reps. Seth Moulton, Raul Grijalva, Stephen Lynch, Morgan McGarvey, Suzanne Bonamici, Raja Krishnamoorthi, Dina Titus, Chuy Garcia, Kim Schrier, Joyce Beatty, Nanette Barragan, Jill Tokuda, Ami Bera, Alma Adams, Jonathan Jackson, Mark DeSaulnier, Bill Keating, Derek Tran, Jahana Hayes, Scott Peters, Chellie Pingree, George Whitesides, Shri Thanedar, and Henry C. “Hank” Johnson.
The Pell Grant Sustainability Act is endorsed by National Education Association (NEA), American Federation of Teachers (AFT), National Association of College Admissions Counselors, American Association of Colleges and Universities, The Institute for College Access and Success (TICAS), and the Institute for Higher Education Policy.
Text of the legislation can be found here.
###