Dottie L. King, Ph.D., president of Saint Mary-of-the-Woods College, signed a letter — along with other college and university presidents across the county — written by the National Association of Independent Colleges and Universities to Congress requesting legislators increase Pell Grants for students.
Saint Mother Theodore’s founding of an academy for young girls in the Wabash Valley who had no opportunities for formal education beyond grammar school was the beginning of a mission centered on two goals: commitment to educational excellence and providing opportunities for all. One hundred eighty years later, we remain committed to these aims. I recently signed a letter to Congress, in unity with many other organizations and institutions, requesting our legislators to double the Pell Grant maximum. Saint Mary-of-the-Woods College is proud to provide a first-rate collegiate experience to our students, 56% of whom are Pell-eligible. The Pell program allows students to take the grant money to the institution of their choice and make their own decision regarding the place where they feel most at home and are most likely to succeed. The Pell program is a noted investment in the futures of America’s most financially vulnerable students and is one that admirably affords students to choose the college of their dreams!
Dear Members of Congress,
On behalf of the undersigned organizations and institutions, we urge you to bring an affordable, high-quality college education within reach for all students by doubling the maximum Pell Grant. This long overdue investment will drive economic recovery, help address racial and economic inequities in college completion rates and increase overall educational attainment.
The Pell Grant program is the nation’s foundational investment in higher education. Pell Grants help nearly seven million low- and moderate-income students attend and complete college annually. Students from all 50 states and all corners of the country — from rural areas to cities to everywhere in between — rely on the Pell Grant program to build their future. Pell Grants are especially critical for students of color, with nearly 60 percent of Black students, half of American Indian or Alaska Native students, and nearly half of Latinx students receiving a Pell Grant each year.
However, the share of college costs covered by the grant is at an all-time low. At its peak, the maximum grant covered three-quarters of the cost of attending a four-year public college. Now, it covers less than one-third of that cost.
Unsurprisingly, Pell Grant recipients continue to bear disproportionate student debt burdens. Pell Grant recipients today are more than twice as likely as other students to have student loans, and grant recipients who borrow graduate with over $4,500 more debt than their higher-income peers.
Students from low- and moderate-income families are in critical need of additional grant aid to pay for college. Doubling the maximum Pell Grant — and permanently indexing the grant to inflation to ensure its value doesn’t diminish over time — will boost college enrollment, improve graduation rates, and honor the history and value of these grants as the keystone federal investment in college affordability.