Chet Edwards For Congress

Feb. 12, 2008
Congress approves Pell Grant limit increase by 2012

Baylor Lariat
By Sommer Ingram | Baylor Lariat reporter

As the costs of higher-level education continue to rise across the country, Congress continues its efforts to make education more affordable for students and their families. Last week, the U.S. House of Representatives passed the Higher Education Reauthorization Act, which reauthorizes the Higher Education Act through fiscal year 2012, increasing the maximum Pell Grant per year to $9,000.

The increase in the Pell Grant is $68 billion from 2009 to 2012. Congressman Chet Edwards, D-Texas, supports the bill.

"Keeping the doors of our colleges and universities open to bright, hard-working students is not only important for their future, it is critical for the future of our nation," said Edwards in a news release. "If America is going to compete in the global economy, we must knock down the financial barriers that are making it harder for qualified students to pursue a higher education. One of the ways we do that is by increasing Pell Grants."

Dr. Charles North, professor of economics, said that while Pell Grants are an effective way of getting kids from low socioeconomic backgrounds to college, they aren't the sole solution.

"If our goal is to reduce the amount of poverty in the United States, we need to focus more on pre-K through 12 children, because the roots of poverty are in elementary school," he said. "I'd like to see more money aimed at the earlier, more formative years in kids' lives so they can develop the skills and mindset needed for college."

In his State of the Union Address, President Bush proposed a multi-million dollar program called Pell Grants for Kids. Modeled after the Pell Grant program for college students, this program would provide grants on a competitive basis to schools to create scholarship programs for low-income students from kindergarten to twelfth grade to attend private schools. Unlike the increase in the Pell Grant, this new plan was proposed amid criticism of being a voucher in disguise.

"In my opinion, this is just a back door way of providing funding for kids to attend private schools--much like a voucher," said Dr. Kent Gilbreath, professor of economics. "It is highly unlikely that such a proposal will pass because Congress hasn't seemed to support vouchers. Simply calling this a 'Pell Grant' doesn't change anything."

Gilbreath said there are things that need to be addressed within the original Pell Grant program itself.

"The biggest problem with Pell Grants is that the amount of money has not kept up with the growing cost of higher-level education, kind of like minimum wage wasn't increased for years," he said.

Because Pell Grants are restricted to families below a certain income level, many middle-class families who can't afford college tuition out of their own pockets don't get help from the federal government.

"We must provide the very best education we can for everyone, because the future of our competitiveness as a nation is based on brains, not brawn," Gilbreath said.

Gilbreath said the increase in Pell Grants has no effect on the economy and talk of recession.

"That matter is rather irrelevant," he said. "But one of the big clouds looming on the horizon is the huge amount of debt students leave college with -- it can have a stifling effect on the economy and business cycle. But Pell Grants are a step up both economically and socially for thousands of low-income families, so an increase is a huge step in the right direction."