Study: Pell Grant Makes Difference for Students of Color

Study: Pell Grant Makes Difference for Students of Color: African American and Hispanic students who receive a federal Pell Grant are more likely to finish college and pursue science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) majors, says a new report that argues for a renewed commitment to the grant program.

Pell’s effect is dramatic on the college success of low- and middle-income students, said Dr. Lamont Flowers, executive director of the Charles H. Houston Center for the Study of the Black Experience in Education at Clemson University. Examining longitudinal data beginning in 2004, he found that 35 percent of low-income African-American students with a Pell Grant earned a degree compared with 23 percent of low-income African-Americans without such a grant.