Change Your World Week Winter 2021 (Archived)

When the Federal Pell Grant was established in 1972, the goal of the program was to make sure that low-income individuals had an equal opportunity of attending college. The Pell Grant is one of the nation’s largest federal grant programs offered to undergraduate students by the Department of Education. At a national level, more than 7 million students receive the Federal Pell Grant every year to offset their college expenses. Looking at this statistic at a local level, Delta College is home to approximately 10,408 students, 40 percent of which receive the Pell Grant. As good as this program may seem, there have been a lot of shortfalls to the program, specifically the dollar amount attached to the Pell Grant. When the Pell Grant was first implemented, it used to cover 75 percent of an individual’s college expenses, but today, with the rising cost of college tuition, the purchasing power of the Pell Grant has declined to only cover a mere 28 percent. This has become an urgent issue for low-income students in the wake of the Coronavirus pandemic, with high unemployment rates and job cuts that have devastated our country. With the gap in college affordability to low-income students continuing to rise, and the Pell Grant not being able to meet low-income students needs, students are struggling with the decision to continue their education, or struggle to pay not only their basic expenses, but also the expenses of attending a higher education. In the wake of the pandemic, this is becoming an urgent problem! There will likely be more students that are eligible to receive the Pell Grant in the coming academic year, due to job cuts and job losses, therefore there will be more stakeholders that will benefit greatly from doubling the Pell Grant. Doubling the Pell Grant is the solution to bridging the gap in college affordability to low-income students. This has sparked coalitions of students across the country highlighting the urgency and the need for Congress to Double the Pell. The University of California has become a huge voice in the fight to double the Pell Grant, gathering more than 1200 colleges and organizations from all over the United States, and grass rooting students to share their story and join in the fight to double the Pell. Doubling the Pell Grant would bridge the gap of college affordability, regardless of socioeconomic status. As noted above, this could mean that for Delta’s 40 percent of Pell recipients, a greater economic advantage in college affordability, and an incentive as stakeholders to join the fight in doubling the Pell.

 Doubling the Pell Grant has received wide bipartisan support, however the price tag attached to doubling the Pell Grant has been one reason lawmakers are opposed to this legislation. Today, the annual price tag for the Pell Grant is approximately 33 million dollars, with the maximum Pell Grant award amount available to students capping out at 6,345 dollars.  Thus, doubling the Pell Grant would mean that Congress would have to increase the annual spending to approximately 66 million dollars. Since the Pell Grant is federally funded, this means that Congress and the President decide on the Pell Grant dollar amount during the annual appropriations process. With the doubling of the Pell Grant proposal, Congress would double the Pell Grant award amount by 2,000 dollars every year, to reach 13,000 dollars available to students by the end of the third year; in addition to ensuring that Congress fixes the Pell Grant amount to inflation, so that the purchasing power of the Pell Grant does not decline in the future.

Although this proposal comes with a hefty price tag, investing in our future is worth the cost! A college degree has a return of investment of 15 percent per year, which is larger than the housing market and the stock market. Therefore, doubling the Pell would mean more than a “band aid” fix to bridging the gap in college affordability for students. It would mean for the first time in decades, students have equal access to postsecondary education, without the burden of debt chained to them following graduation. President Joe Biden had mentioned doubling of the Pell Grant in his Presidential Campaign, and with Democrats controlling Congress, passing this legislation through a budget reconciliation process would only require a majority vote of 51 in the Senate. Therefore, doubling the Pell Grant just might have a chance if it reaches Congress for a proposal. 

When it comes to effective policy action, people are your currency. As noted above, the University of California has become a huge voice and advocate for students wanting to get involved to double the Pell Grant. The petition they launched has reached almost 8,000 signatures, in addition to also writing Congress a letter including the signatures of the 1200 organizations and college campuses from all around the United States. This is why I believe Delta students, or those interested in joining the fight to double the Pell Grant, would benefit greatly from joining the University of California, because their platform is only continuing to grow.

• If you are interested in joining the fight and signing the petition to double the Pell Grant,  Click Here for University of California Petition to Double the Pell Grant.
• To view the University of California's letter to Congress, Click Here to view the University of California's letter to Congress to Double the Pell

Furthermore, I have also provided the contact information to our state Senators. These are the people to contact if you would like to share your story, write a letter, or call, as these are our Michigan representatives in Congress.

For U.S. Senator Debbie Stabenow's Office: Call 517-203-1760 or you can visit her website at www.stabenow.senate.gov

For U.S Senator Gary Peter's Office: Call 313-226-6020 or you can visit his website at www.peters.senate.gov

• U.S House of Representative's: You can contact your U.S. Representative by calling the U.S. House Switchboard at 202-224-3121 or by visiting the U.S. House of Representative's website at https://www.house.gov/.