UNCF and TICAS Urge Congress to #DoublePell

UNCF and The Institute for College Access & Success (TICAS) today released a new publication calling on Congress to double the maximum Pell Grant.

Amid the COVID-19 pandemic and recession, students urgently need more help covering college costs.

Pell Grants are the federal government’s most effective investment in promoting college enrollment, completion, and equity. They help nearly seven million low- and middle-income students —including 75% of HBCU students—attend and complete college.

But the current maximum Pell Grant currently covers less than one-third of the average cost of attending a four-year public college—the lowest share in more than 40 years.

Pell Grant recipients today are more than twice as likely as other students to have student loans, and grant recipients who borrow graduate with over $4,500 more debt than their higher-income peers.

To help students and close equity gaps in college enrollment and completion, we urge Congress to #DoublePell.

“For HBCU students, the doubling of the Pell Grant is one of the most consequential decisions the Congress can make. While others haggle over how to pay for college, investing in the Pell Grant provides the fastest, simplest way of impacting students from lower socio-economic backgrounds, and UNCF stands in favor of restoring the purchasing power of this most-important of programs to equal the playing field in our society,” said Dr. Michael L. Lomax, President and CEO, UNCF.

“Big new investments in the Pell Grant program are long overdue. The time is now to double the Pell Grant to uplift our nation’s students and close disparities in college attainment,” said James Kvaal, President, TICAS.

For more on the campaign to #DoublePell, visit uncf.org, ticas.org, and doublethepell.com.