Recognizing the 50th Anniverary of the Pell Grant

Floor Speech

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Mr. SMITH of Washington. Madam Speaker, I rise today to mark the 50th Anniversary of the Pell Grant Program.

In 1972, Congress amended the Higher Education Act by creating the Basic Educational Opportunity Grant, to provide direct financial aid to low-income students so they would have the same access to higher education and opportunity for success as their higher income peers. This program was later named the Pell Grant for its original sponsor, Sen. Claiborne Pell, Democrat from Rhode Island. The original bill was signed into law by Republican President Richard Nixon, and the program has maintained this original bipartisan support over the last 50 years.

To date, more than 80 million students have received a Pell Grant to go to college since the program's creation. Currently, nearly 7 million students are going to college with Pell Grants, or about 40 percent of undergraduate students.

In my congressional district, 4,626 students are receiving $17,586,937 to pursue their higher education goals at our local colleges.

The federal investment in Pell Grants is targeted to students with demonstrated financial need, with most families at incomes of $40,000 or less, and the investment pays off by increasing college completion, and economic mobility.

Madam Speaker, as we approach the 50-year mark on the Pell Grant program, I look forward to Congress continuing the bipartisan support for low-income student access to college through the Pell Grant for another 50 years. I urge my colleagues to support the bipartisan resolution declaring June 23, 2022, National Pell Grant Day this year, and in the future.

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