What Pell Grants Have Become

Thu, 18 Feb 2010 15:36:00 EST

The history of the United Statescan easily be compared to the history of college grants. In fact,grants for obtaining a college education appears to be an Americaninvention. In 1643, one Lady Anne Radcliffe Mowlson created the first,as a way to help Harvard to become the world institution it is today.

Oneof the beneficiaries of such a grant was one Claiborne Pell. Heobtained his Bachelors before World War II, and then served in theGreat War until it ended in 1945. From there, he got his Masters from Columbia Universitythanks in part to the GI Bill. He would go on to be part of theofficials that created the United Nations and become a U.S. Senator.

In1972, Pell promoted an act to create the Basic Educational OpportunityGrant, also known as the BEOG. It would provide federal money, based onneed, for academically worthy students to achieve advanced degrees. Itbecame so successful that in 1980, Congress renamed it to the PellGrant, a name this act still goes by.

Thegrant has changed considerably. Over the years, it had expanded itsqualifications, allowing more students to get financial aid. That’sended up being a two-edged sword. While the number grants permitted hasgrown geometrically, the cost of going for that degree, whether for acampus or online degree, has risen even more.

Whenit comes to obtaining college grants, the U.S. Department of Educationhas just released a report that’s truly cautionary. It shows themaximum amount of money one can get from Pell Grants has increased toas much as $5,350, the cost of higher education has increased to over$15,000 per year. That’s a $10,000 gap that has to be filled, eitherthrough private funding, obtaining more grants or taking out loans.

Evenwith President Obama pushing for an increase next year’s cap to $5,750a year, these grants cover barely a third of overall college costs. Thecost of a higher education is clearly outstripping what the federalgovernment is willing to give.

Forcomparison, USA Today reports that when the Pell started in 1973, themaximum grant was $452, but the average tuition at that time was $438.In hard numbers, if Obama’s proposal goes through, the Pell will havegone up 1275%. At the same time, costs have exploded by 3400%, nearlythree times faster than the money provided to the Pell. To top it,state grants have shrunk considerably, citing the current economy asthe reason.

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What Pell Grants Have Become