In a crisis, any help is better than none. That’s why the Biden administration’s proposal to boost the cornerstone federal funding program for low-income college students is a very welcome step.
The increase in the Pell Grant would mark the first significant boost in federal support for students in the last decade, giving lower income students — who are disproportionately from minority communities — a stronger foundation to access college and to thrive in their studies.
Yet it’s also clear that bumping up the Pell Grant falls far short of what’s needed to fully address the crisis of college affordability and the resulting inequality of student experience and outcomes. Students from marginalized backgrounds face a range of financial barriers to college success that lawmakers must do more to address. Without more fundamental changes, a higher Pell Grant risks being little more than a Band-Aid on a growing wound.
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