College costs would soar for some low-income students under Republican bill

Nearly 4.5 million low-income college students would lose some or all of their federal financial aid if Republicans in the House get their way.

That’s according to an analysis from the left-leaning Center for American Progress, shared exclusively with The Hechinger Report. The report looks at the ways a GOP House budget bill would affect Pell Grants, the federal financial aid program that covers college expenses for students from low-income families.  

The changes, which would take effect this July, would reduce aid for students who do not take a full load of 15 credits per semester, typically five classes. That would be a departure from how things are now: Under current rules, students can be eligible for the maximum Pell Grant of $7,395 if they take at least 12 credits, or four classes. For students who take fewer credits, the money is prorated based on the number of courses in which they’re enrolled. 

The proposal — which passed out of the House Education and Workforce Committee earlier this month on a party-line vote and will be considered as part of the larger reconciliation bill meant to fast-track the budget process — would eliminate Pell Grants for anyone taking fewer than eight credits each semester. 

Supporters of the bill say it would encourage students to take more classes and graduate more quickly. “We don’t want students to take classes just to take classes, we want them to get credentials to signal their skills in the workplace,” Sara Robertson, press secretary for the Republican majority on the House Education and Workforce Committee, wrote in an email. “Completion rates are already abysmal for Pell students. That is not the kind of ‘access’ we want.”

About 53 percent of Pell recipients who attend four-year colleges earn a degree, compared with 73 percent of their peers.

But student advocates worry it could set in motion a downward spiral for many low-income students, forcing them to work more hours to cover tuition and living costs and making it harder to keep up with their classes. Others may need to take on additional loans. In all, critics say the changes would punish students who already struggle to maintain their course load. 

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Sara Partridge, author of the Center for American Progress report and the group’s associate director of higher education, called the proposal an example of “legislation without an eye to the realities of today’s students.” 

“A majority of them work,” she said. “Many of them have child care, other caregiving responsibilities, and it isn’t necessarily feasible for every student to take on more coursework per semester. And, as a result, many students may be forced to take on additional debt.” 

The analysis found that, for students taking 12 credits or fewer per semester, the Republican budget proposal could increase the cost of an associate degree by up to $3,700 and a bachelor’s degree by $7,400. About 1.3 million students could lose Pell entirely, and another roughly 3 million could see their awards reduced. 

The analysis based its estimates of how many students will be affected on data from 2011-12, the last time the government released national data on how many credits students were taking. It applies that breakdown to more current enrollment figures. Partridge and other experts say the estimates are likely conservative, because the share of students attending part time has risen over the last decade. 

Students at community colleges would be especially hard hit, according to the report. An estimated 80 percent of Pell recipients at community colleges would see a cut and a third would lose eligibility for the federal grant altogether.

Related: The Hechinger Report’s Tuition Tracker helps reveal the real cost of college

At Ivy Tech Community College in Indianapolis, the proposed rules could affect nearly 33,000 students who could lose, in total, about $19 million in financial aid, according to Mary Jane Michalak, the college’s senior vice president for legal and public affairs. About 70 percent of Ivy Tech students attend part time and their average age is 27. Nearly a quarter financially support children or other family members. 

About 7,000 Ivy Tech students would lose Pell entirely under the proposed changes, but, Michalak wrote in an email, their “less-than-half-time status is often a reflection of life circumstances, not a lack of ambition.”

“For these students, taking even one or two classes per term is a major commitment layered on top of already full schedules,” she said. “Flexible and incremental pathways are often the only viable route to a credential of value.”

Chris Rose, a Pell Grant recipient and student at the University of Missouri-St. Louis, said getting through college without financial means is already difficult. He was raised primarily by his grandmother — his father has been incarcerated since he was 1 and his mother has been in and out of jail. “We just don’t have the generational wealth to pay for the cost of higher education,” he said, describing Pell as a “lifeline.” He has also received help from The Scholarship Foundation of St. Louis, a private grantmaker. 

Rose, a marketing major who expects to graduate in 2026, said he has typically taken 15 credits each semester. But at times he’s taken only 12, for example, when he was dealing with family problems and had a harder time concentrating on his studies. Under the proposed legislation, that decision would have resulted in nearly $1,500 less in grant money. 

To make up such a shortfall, Rose said he would have needed to borrow more or get a job. And it would be a constant stressor. “When you don’t come from money, you’re already worried about money,” he said. 

Some researchers are also concerned that the change to Pell could steer students away from more challenging classes that can also lead to more lucrative careers. Taking a five-class course load as a science major, for example, while holding a job or taking care of family, may seem too daunting, said Veronica Minaya, a senior research associate at the Community College Research Center at Teachers College, Columbia University. (The Hechinger Report is an independent unit of Teachers College.)

Related: The return of student loan debt collection: What borrowers need to know

Supporters of the bill say that concerns about the proposal’s harm to low-income students are overblown and that changes to Pell will result in a more effective use of federal dollars. 

“Obviously there’s a trade-off here. But if people are not completing the number of credits that they need to remain on track for finishing their degrees, that’s also going to carry costs,” said Preston Cooper, senior fellow at the conservative think tank American Enterprise Institute. 

He also noted that the longer a student is enrolled in college, the less likely they are to graduate.

“The federal government has limited resources, and we need to think about how we can best deploy those resources in order to maximize student success,” said Cooper. “People who are only taking one or two courses per semester, it’s going to be very difficult for them to actually finish their programs. And federally subsidizing that pathway might not be setting those students up for success.”

Supporters of the bill also point to a new proposed stream of funding for low-income students known as workforce Pell. The approach has bipartisan support and will allow students to use federal student aid to pay for programs that take between eight and 15 weeks to complete and lead to a job that’s in demand in the state where they live.

Opponents say there are more effective ways to encourage on-time graduation, such as year-round Pell, which allows students to take 12 credits per semester and six in the summer. 

“Reward the behavior you want to see, but don’t punish people who can’t do it,” said Jill Desjean, director of policy analysis at the National Association of Student Financial Aid Administrators.

Advocates said the Republican proposal represents a marked shift in the political conversation around low-income students in college. 

“Until recently, we were talking about doubling Pell,” Minaya said. “Instead of thinking, ‘Let’s punish those who are not enrolling full time,’ I think the government should encourage them and think about, ‘How can we help you to enroll full time?’”

Contact investigations editor Sarah Butrymowicz at butrymowicz@hechingerreport.org or on Signal: @sbutry.04.

Contact senior investigative reporter Meredith Kolodner at kolodner@hechingerreport.org or on Signal: @merkolodner.04.

This story about Pell Grants was produced by The Hechinger Report, a nonprofit, independent news organization focused on inequality and innovation in education. Sign up for our higher education newsletter.

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