Pell Grant Preservation and Expansion Act permanently will double maximum award and index Pell Grants to inflation to maintain purchasing power over time
Washington, D.C. – U.S. Senator Patty Murray (D-WA), a former chair and senior member of the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) Committee, joined Senators Mazie K. Hirono (D-HI), Jack Reed (D-RI), and Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI) and Representatives Mark Pocan (D-WI) and Robert C. “Bobby” Scott (D-VA) to introduce the Pell Grant Preservation and Expansion Act of 2024, bicameral legislation that would nearly double the maximum Pell Grant award, index the maximum award to inflation, and make other changes to expand the award for working students and families. The Pell Grant program is the cornerstone of federal financial aid for postsecondary education, serving over 6 million undergraduate students.
“My siblings and I were able to go to college thanks to federal support, and students today deserve to know the federal government has their back and will help them pursue their dreams, too. Pell Grants cover far less than they used to, but this bill will help fix that—and provide long-term stability for Pell—by doubling the maximum award and indexing it to inflation,” dijo el senador Murray. “I’m going to keep pushing to pass this legislation and help ensure every student can pursue a higher education—no matter how much money their family has.”
In addition to doubling the maximum Pell Grant award and indexing it to inflation, the Ley de preservación y expansión de la subvención Pell also makes the Pell Grant funding fully mandatory to protect it from funding shortfalls, expands the program to include DREAMers, and restores lifetime eligibility for the program to 18 semesters, among other changes that will benefit students.
In addition to Senators Murray, Hirono, Reed, and Whitehouse, the bill is cosponsored in the Senate by Senators Tammy Baldwin (D-WI), Michael Bennet (D-CO), Richard Blumenthal (D-CT), Cory Booker (D-NJ), Sherrod Brown (D-OH), Laphonza Butler (D-CA), Ben Cardin (D-MD), Bob Casey (D-PA), Chris Coons (D-DE), Tammy Duckworth (D-IL), Dick Durbin (D-IL), John Fetterman (D-PA), Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY), Maggie Hassan (D-NH), Martin Heinrich (D-NM), Tim Kaine (D-VA), Amy Klobuchar (D-MN), Ed Markey (D-MA), Jeff Merkley (D-OR), Chris Murphy (D-CT), Jon Ossoff (D-GA), Alex Padilla (D-CA), Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH), Tina Smith (D-MN), Chris Van Hollen (D-MD), Raphael Warnock (D-GA), Elizabeth Warren (D-MA), Peter Welch (D-VT), and Ron Wyden (D-OR).
El Ley de preservación y expansión de la subvención Pell is endorsed by American Association of Community Colleges (AACC); Association of Community College Trustees (AACT); American Association for State College and Universities (AASCU); Association of American Universities (AAU); American Association of University Professors (AAUP); American Association of University Women (AAUW); American Council on Education (ACE); American Federation of Teachers (AFT); American Indian Higher Education Consortium (AIHEC); Asian Pacific Islander American Scholars (APIA Scholars); Association of Public and Land-Grant Universities (APLU); Arizona Students’ Association; Associated Students of the University of California: Berkeley; Center for American Progress (CAP); Center for Law and Social Policy (CLASP); Denver Scholarship Foundation; The Education Trust (Ed Trust); Institute for Higher Education Policy (IHEP); Jobs for the Future (JFF); Menlo College; National Association of Independent Colleges and Universities (NAICU); National College Attainment Network (NCAN); National Education Association (NEA); New American Higher Education Policy Program; National Skills Coalition (NSC); Partnership for the Future; Phi Beta Kappa; Service Employees International Union (SEIU); Southern California College Attainment Network; State Higher Education Executive Officers Association (SHEEO); The Hope Center at Temple University; Third Way; The Institute for College Access and Success (TICAS); Today’s Students Coalition (formerly HLA); uAspire; United Negro College Fund (UNCF); UNITE-LA; and Young Invincibles.
Senator Murray has long pushed to help ensure Pell Grants reach more students and provide more support for students and families. She has LED the Pell Grant Preservation and Expansion Act in Congress and successfully secured historic increases to the maximum award as a senior appropriator. She also negotiated and passed legislación bipartidista to expand Pell Grant eligibility, which will help 610,000 more students from low-income backgrounds receive Pell Grants and 1.5 million more students access the maximum Pell Grant—including 14,797 new students in Washington state set to receive Pell Grants and 23,731 more set to receive the maximum award.
El texto completo del proyecto de ley está disponible. AQUÍ. A fact sheet is available AQUÍ.
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