50th Anniversary of the Pell Grant Program

Floor Speech

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Mr. DURBIN. Mr. President, today marks the 50th anniversary of the Pell Grant Program, a program that has been the bedrock of our Nation's investment in higher education.

This bipartisan program has provided direct financial aid to low- income students since 1972, and there currently are 7 million students receiving a Pell grant. In my home State of Illinois, more than 208,000 Pell grants totaling nearly $860 million were awarded in the 2020-2021 academic year. These Federal dollars help provide students and families access to higher education, well-paying jobs, and economic mobility.

But Pell grants have failed to keep up with the times. When it was created, the Pell grant covered more than 75 percent of the average cost of attendance at a 4-year public college. Today, Pell grants cover less than 30 percent of these expenses. This means that students are forced to take on student loans, exacerbating the student loan debt crisis. Fourty-five million Americans owe $1.7 trillion in student loan debt, which is second only to mortgages as the largest category of consumer debt.

Doubling the Pell grant would be an investment in our Nation's future and would help ensure students can access higher education. At the same time, the for-profit college industry--an industry with a track record of preying on low-income students--must continue to be held accountable so students and taxpayers are not being ripped off. The for-profit college industry enrolls only 8 percent of all postsecondary students in America, but accounts for 30 percent of all Federal student loan defaults. Too often, students and taxpayers are left holding the bag.

As we celebrate the 50th anniversary of Pell grants, I urge my colleagues to support low-income students by increasing these grants to cover a greater amount of college expenses and ensuring the most vulnerable students are protected from fraudulent for-profit colleges.

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