COLEMAN PLAN TO INCREASE MAXIMUM PELL GRANT AWARD GAINING MOMENTUM IN SENATE
Bipartisan group of 25 senators sign Coleman's letter urging Senate Budget Committee to take action on Pell Grants now
Senator Coleman (R-MN) today announced that he, along with Senators Susan Collins (R-ME), Russ Feingold (D-WI), and Edward Kennedy (D-MA) are leading a bipartisan coalition of Senators in strongly urging the Senate Budget Committee to increase the maximum Pell Grant award to $4,500 up from its current level of $4,050.
In a letter to Budget Committee Chairman Judd Gregg (R-NH) and Ranking Member Kent Conrad (D-ND), Coleman and his colleagues explained that "the Pell Grant program is critical to providing needy college students with access to quality higher education. In 2005 alone, an estimated 5,309,000 students will receive Pell Grants. At a time when the cost of a college education has reached new heights while the maximum award has been frozen for the last three years, it is appropriate that the Pell Grant program rise to meet new needs."
In 1980 the Pell Grant covered 69 percent of school costs; today it covers less than 40 percent. According to the College Board, the national average for tuition and fees at four year public universities was $10,636 last year, a 10 percent increase from the year before.
"More than 76,000 Minnesota students received Pell Grants last year," Coleman noted today about the effort. "This program plays a pivotal role in keeping higher education affordable to low and middle-income Minnesota families."
Coleman strongly commended Bush for his commitment to increase the maximum Pell Grant award over the next five years, but pointed out that this incremental increase would not keep pace with the faster rising costs of tuition. The letter reads: "We are encouraged by President Bush's support of reaching the goal of a $4,500 Pell Grant maximum award. In light of recent tuition increases and past stagnant growth in the maximum award, however, we believe an immediate $450 increase in the maximum Pell Grant would match the percentage growth in public college tuition over the past year."
"The Pell Grant is more than a financial aid program for college students in need. It is an investment in America's youth that will bring returns to the United States long-term global competitiveness through a mores skilled and educated workforce. It is the right thing to do for America's college students, and it is the right thing to do for America's economy," Coleman reiterated today.
Senator Coleman introduced an amendment in the last Congress to increase the Pell Grant cap to $4,500 which passed with overwhelming Senate support; however, the amendment was dropped in Conference Committee with the House of Representatives.
The Senators who signed this letter are: Norm Coleman (R-MN), Susan Collins (R-ME), Russ Feingold (D-WI), Edward Kennedy (D-MA), Conrad Burns (R-MT), Lincoln Chafee (R-RI), Elizabeth Dole (R-NC), Olympia Snowe (R-ME), Paul Sarbanes (D-MD), Barbara Mikulski (D-MD), Carl Levin (D-MI), Jon Corzine (D-NJ), Maria Cantwell (D-WA), Herbert Kohl (D-WI), Joseph Lieberman (D-CT), Jesse Bingaman (D-NM), John Reed (D-RI), Timothy Johnson (D-SD), Mark Pryor (D-AR), Mark Dayton (D-MN), Dianne Feinstein (D-CA), Ken Salazar (D-CO), Jim Talent (R-MO), Richard Durbin (D-IL), Blanche Lincoln (D-AR), and John Kerry (D-MA).
http://coleman.senate.gov/index.cfm?FuseAction=PressReleases.Detail&PressRelease_id=569&Month=3&Year=2005