House Committee Approves Increase in Pell Grant, New Funding For Black Colleges: The House education committee on Wednesday approved a higher education bill that would increase Pell Grants, cut lender subsidies and make wide-ranging changes to help low-income students and minority-serving colleges.
The College Cost Reduction Act would reduce lender subsidies and channel much of the money toward need-based financial aid. The maximum Pell Grant would increase to $5,200 within five years, and colleges could receive more Pell funds if they keep their tuition increases in line with an annual college price index.
Sponsors said the bill also would support federal programs for historically Black colleges and Hispanic-serving institutions and create a new funding stream for predominantly Black colleges, or higher education institutions that are not HBCUs but have sizable enrollment of African American students.
