Without additional taxpayer funds next year, the government’s “most important” federal financial aid program may be unable to provide Pell Grants to millions of eligible low-income students, likely pricing these students out of a higher education, according to an article in The New York Times (“Pell Grants Said to Face a Shortfall,” Sept. 17, 2008).
In a memorandum issued last week, the Department of Education warned that it predicts a $6 billion shortage for the federal Pell Grant program next year, stemming from continuous budget shortfalls and compounded by the record-high number of students qualifying for the federal Pell Grant program.
Rising tuition costs, shrinking state aid to colleges and universities, and a growing number of adults who are reenrolling in college are all putting a strain on federal financial aid resources, particularly on Pell Grants, which don’t have to be repaid. This school year alone, six million students out of the nine million who applied for federal financial aid received Pell Grants, some of the highest numbers the program has seen since its inception in 1972.
“It’s the mother of all shortfalls,” said Barmak Nassirian, associate executive director of the American Association of Collegiate Registrars and Admissions Officers. “There’s more unmet need than anyone predicted.”
Last year Congress appropriated nearly $14 billion for the Pell Grant program, but as the troubled economy continues to force adults out of the workforce and back into the classroom, the Department of Education said it will either need to allocate more taxpayer money to the Pell Grant program or decrease the grant award amounts students can receive next year.
Should the Education Department decide to reduce Pell Grant awards, it would make an announcement detailing its decision sometime in February 2009, according to the memorandum.
“If [the Pell Grant program] is threatened, you’ll hear about it,” said Edward M. Elmendorf, senior vice president of the American Association of State Colleges and Universities. “The decibel level will be deafening.”