When US Senator Claiborne Pell (D-Rhode Island) championed the Federal Pell Grant Program in 1972, he envisioned a financial pathway for lower- and middle-income students to pursue their higher education goals. More than fifty years later, the Pell Grant has not kept up with inflation or the cost of tuition and the Pell Grant only meets a portion of a student’s demonstrated need. A maximum Pell award is $7,395/year, but tuition, housing, and the cost-of-attendance is much more  The campaign to Double Pell to $13,000 is an effort to strengthen Pell and improve access to college degrees. At the University of Oregon, nearly 4,500 students benefitted from $22 million in Pell Grant aid in 2022-23.

In June, lawmakers in the US Senate and House of Representatives reintroduced the Pell Grant Preservation and Expansion Act which, including other actions, doubles the Pell Grant award, indexes it to inflation, and aims to make Pell Grant appropriations mandatory rather than discretionary. 

The Act was re-introduced to both houses as S.4595 and H.R. 8807 respectively, and were co-sponsored by Oregon Senators Ron Wyden and Jeff Merkley and Oregon Representative Suzanne Bonamici, among other legislators from across the nation. Many higher-education institutions have endorsed the bills, including the Association of American Universities (AAU) and the Association of Public and Land-Grant Universities (APLU). The University of Oregon joins these associations in prioritizing the effort to Double Pell.

The bills would also reinstate Pell Grant eligibility for defrauded students, allow Dreamers and incarcerated individuals to be eligible, increase support for working students, increase Pell Grant lifetime eligibility to 14 semesters, and more – this is a fact sheet on the bills. 

When the Pell Grant was first introduced, it covered more than three-quarters of the cost of attending a four-year public college; today, it covers less than a third. The Pell Grant Preservation and Expansion Act would restore the Pell Grant’s purchasing power, increase access for low-income students to a college education, and foster economic growth.

Despite the call to Double Pell, the FY25 House mark-up of the appropriations bill that funds the Pell Grant was released last week with flat funding for the third consecutive year and a maximum award of $7,395.