History Of Pell Grants
Many people don’t remember 1972. To be truthful, the majority of Americans alive today weren’t born then. It was the height of Watergate, David Bowie was shocking the world with his outlandish behavior and the hot movie was The Godfather and the top TV show was All In The Family. At this time, a Senator from Rhode Island, Claiborne De Borda Pell, was rewriting the rules regarding how people got college grants.
College grants are nothing new. In fact, the first recorded grant for college dates back to 1643, when one Lady Anne Radcliffe Mowlson created the first known grant for Harvard University. Pell, a World War II veteran and beneficiary of the GI Bill, a program then President Harry Truman set up to reward returning vets. Pell realized how much he benefitted from the government funding his higher education. Pell also realized the U.S. benefitted dramatically from the hundreds of thousands of immigrant children who got that college degree.
In 1972, Pell promoted an act to create the Basic Educational Opportunity Grant, also known as the BEOG. It would provide federal money, based on need, for academically worthy students to achieve advanced degrees. It became so successful that in 1980, Congress renamed it to the Pell Grant, which this act still goes by.
Over the years, the grant has changed considerably. Over the years, it had expanded its qualifications, allowing more and more students to get this grant for online college. That’s ended up being a two-edged sword. While the number grants permitted has grown geometrically, the cost of going for that degree, whether for a campus or online degree, has risen even more.
When it comes to obtaining college grants, the U.S. Department of Education has just released a report that’s truly cautionary. It shows the maximum amount of money one can get from Pell Grants has increased to as much as $5,350, the cost of higher education has increased to over $15,000 per year. That’s a $10,000 gap that has to be filled, either through private funding, obtaining more grants or taking out loans.
Even with President Obama pushing for an increase next year’s cap to $5,750 a year, these grants cover barely a third of overall college costs. The cost of a higher education is clearly outstripping what the federal government is willing to give.
For comparison, USA Today reports that when the Pell started in 1973, the maximum grant was $452, but the average tuition at that time was $438. In hard numbers, if Obama’s proposal goes through, the Pell will have gone up 1275%. At the same time, costs have exploded by 3400% from 1973. To top it, state grants for online college have shrunk considerably, citing the current economy as the reason.
The good news is there still are plenty of other college grants out there besides the Pell. It takes a work and patience to get more than just the Pell Grant. Still, private grants like the one Lady Mowlson gave Harvard are out there. You just have to look for them, and you could be on your way to that Bachelors degree everyone needs to advance in these modern times.
