Hirono, colleagues introduce bill to double Pell Grant, make college more affordable

On Friday, US Senator Mazie K. Hirono (D-HI) helped introduce the Pell Grant Preservation and Expansion Act of 2024, a bill to nearly double the Pell Grant maximum award over five years, index the maximum award for inflation and make other changes to expand the award for working students and families.

The request for additional federal financial aid for undergraduate students starting next year comes as the value of the Pell Grant no longer covers the bulk of college costs.

“Pell Grants help to make postsecondary education more affordable for thousands of students in Hawaiʻi and millions across the country,” said Hirono. “However, as the cost of attending college has continued to rise over the years, the purchasing power of the Pell Grant has steadily declined. I’m proud to reintroduce this legislation to restore the value of Pell Grants and enable more students to access higher education.”

The Pell Grant Preservation and Expansion Act of 2024 would nearly double the maximum Pell Grant. Under the current law, the scheduled maximum Pell Grant for 2024-2025 is $7,395, remaining fixed at this level for FY25. The bill would increase the maximum Pell Grant to $10,000 for the 2025-2026 award year, and nearly double the max Pell Grant over a period of five years thereafter, to $14,000, as well as index the award for inflation.

Other features of the bill include extending Pell Grant eligibility to DREAMers, reforming “Satisfactory Academic Progress” (SAP) requirements, giving students of low-income families an extra award of $1,500 (for a total of $15,500), and restoring lifetime eligibility for the program to 18 semesters, allowing students more flexibilities in completing their degrees without exhausting their grant eligibility prematurely.

A letter sent on May 14 by Hirono and 43 other colleagues to members of the subcommittee in charge of budgeting education agencies relayed her concerns with the current Pell Grant. According to the letter, the value of the Pell Grant—the largest federal grant program offered to undergraduates, serving over 6 million students (40% of all undergraduate students) yearly—has steadily declined since it was first created, now covering the lowest share of the cost of attendance in its 50-year history.

The Pell Grant Preservation and Expansion Act of 2024 is sponsored by senators Hirono, Jack Reed (D-RI) and Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI) along with US representatives Mark Pocan (D-WI) and Robert C. Scott (D-VA).

The full text of the bill is available here.