Fairleigh Dickinson President Asks Congress To Double Pell Grants

TEANECK, NJ — Higher education leaders in New Jersey have come together to urge congress to double the maximum value of Pell Grants. This includes college presidents from Bergen County, like Fairleigh Dickinson University's Christopher Capuano.

Capuano joined 44 other higher education leaders who signed onto a letter to the New Jersey Congressional Delegation, urging them to consider doubling the value.

When the Pell Grant was enacted in the 1970s, it covered nearly 80 percent of the cost for attending a public, four-year college, according to the letter dated Wednesday. Now it accounts for less than 30 percent of the cost of attendance. The maximum value for a Pell Grant is $6,495.

"Doubling the maximum Pell Grant will help more students from low- and middle-income families to get to and through college," said the letter, which is available on Princeton University's website. "That helps everyone: by cultivating talent from every sector of society, we make our state, and our country, stronger and better."

More than 150,000 New Jersey students receive Pell Grants each year, according to the letter. There are 7 million recipients nationwide, including a majority of Black students and half of Latinos currently enrolled in college.

The university leaders expressed gratitude for relief funds made available for students during the pandemic but urged Congress to "support this long-term investment in our nation's and the state's young people, for whom a college education will be life-changing."

The Pell Grant is a federal subsidy provided for students to attend college. Pell Grants are limited to students with financial need, who have not earned their first bachelor's degree or who have enrolled in certain post-baccalaureate programs, through participating institutions.

But the grant amounts have not kept up with the rising costs of higher education. Eighty-three percent of Pell recipients graduating in the 2015-16 year took out loans to pay for their degree — a rate 26 percentage points higher than their peers — according to federal data. Of all students who took out loans, Pell students borrowed more on average.

Last June, several House Democrats re-introduced the Pell Grant Preservation and Expansion Act, which would double the Pell Grant award and index it to inflation. But the bill hasn't yet been up for a vote in the House.

With reporting from Josh Bakan.

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