The Federal Pell Grant Program provides billions of dollars in financial aid to college students in need of assistance, but these grants — and other aid — could disappear or be made worthless if proposals by Congress and the Trump administration are enacted. [More]
pell grants
Proposed Spending Bill Would Cut Pell Grant Program By $3.3 Billion
By 7.13.17
The Federal Pell Grant Program provides need-based grants to low-income students to help pay for college, but these students could soon have a more difficult time obtaining the financial assistance as a new legislative measure aims to cut funding for the program. [More]
High School Grads Failed To Claim $2.7B In College Grant Money Last Year
By 1.27.16
If you’re planning to attend college in the fall but haven’t gone through the not terribly difficult process of filling out a Free Application for Federal Student Aid, you’re potentially giving up your chance to claim thousands of dollars in free money. But you wouldn’t be alone; a new analysis shows that U.S. students failed to claim upwards of $2.7 billion last year because they didn’t take the time to fill out a piece of paper. [More]
Bill Would Restore Pell Grant Eligibility For Students Who Attended Defunct For-Profit Colleges
By 9.17.15
The Federal Pell Grant Program provides need-based grants to low-income students to help pay for college, but the funds come with limitations: They are only available for six years or 12 semesters, and when that time is up the funding is gone. So when now-bankrupt Corinthian Colleges Inc. abruptly closed its Wyotech, Heald College and Everest University campuses in April, thousands of students who relied on Pell money were left with few options for continuing their education elsewhere. A new piece of legislation aims to help these stranded students get back on track. [More]
College-Bound Students Can Fill Out Their FAFSA Forms 3 Months Earlier Starting Next Year
By 9.14.15
Each year Consumerist reminds college-bound students and their families that billions of dollars in college aid will go unclaimed because so many people won’t take the time to fill out a Free Application for Federal Student Aid [FAFSA] form. But a new initiative by the Department of Education aims to change that by revamping the application process: starting it earlier and making it easier to fill out. [More]
Prisoners Will Soon Be Eligible For Pell Grants To Finance Education
By 7.31.15
Twenty years after passing a law that banned prisoners from financing higher education with federal grants while incarcerated, the government is ready to begin investing in the education of inmates. [More]
College Students Leaving $3B In Grant Money Unclaimed By Not Filing FAFSA
By 1.20.15
College students and financial supporters of college students: Remember when we told you at the end of the year that you needed to get your Free Application for Federal Student Aid in ASAP? Maybe you pinned it on the cork board in the kitchen or made a mental note that disappeared as soon as you had to remember the finer points of the infield fly rule. It’s because people didn’t get around to filing their FAFSA that there are billions of dollars in unclaimed grant money just sitting around gathering dust like that post-it note on which you wrote “File FAFSA. Buy bread.” [More]
Deal To Keep The Government Running Cuts $303M From Pell Grant Program
By 12.10.14
Congress’ deal to keep the federal government up and running may be coming at the expense of some of the nation’s poorest prospective college students. The spending package is poised to cut $303 million from the Pell Grant program. [More]
Feds And Colleges Now Blacklisting Student-Aid Scammers
By 6.24.13
More than 12 million U.S. college students applied for federal aid for the school year starting this fall, but around 126,000 of these applicants have been flagged by schools and the government as potential scammers looking to cash aid checks without ever intending to get an education. [More]
Law Would Forbid Colleges From Using Federal Money For Advertising
By 4.18.12
The nation’s 15 largest for-profit colleges get nearly 90% of their annual revenue from federal aid programs for students. New legislation introduced in the U.S. Senate today would prevent any of that money being used on advertising, marketing and recruitment. [More]
Bush Will Sign Bill Increasing Pell Grant Funding
By 9.7.07
In a not-too-surprising announcement after all the recent bad news about student loan firms—and in an apparent “victory” for both Bush and Congress—the White House said today that President Bush intends to sign into law a bill that reduces federal subsidies to those firms, including Sallie Mae, by $20.9 billion over the next five years, and will instead use that money to increase funding for Pell Grants (which recipients don’t have to pay back).
