Pitt To Start Matching Student Pell Grants

PITTSBURGH, PA - The University of Pittsburgh will begin matching federal Pell Grants dollar-for-dollar in what it calls the most significant financial aid restructuring in the university’s 232-year history.

Approximately 5,000 Pitt students receive Pell Grants with the average award being is $4,500. The Pitt Success Pell Match Program, which will begin in the 2019–20 academic year, will immediately reduce the total cost of a Pitt education for qualifying students and their families. The university estimates that 84 percent of recipients will be in-state students.

“We want any prospective student with the desire and the qualifications to be able to attend the University of Pittsburgh and succeed,” Chancellor Patrick Gallagher said in a statement. “This program is one means to that end. It is part of a comprehensive charge that our University is advancing — one initiative at a time — to help all students access a Pitt education, afford a Pitt education and then excel in their Pitt education.”

With the new initiative,Pitt’s total investment in students with financial need across all campuses will top $130 million in 2019–20 — a 47 percent increase compared to contributions five years ago.

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