From the News You Can Use Archives 08/20/07

A Pell Grant Snapshot
By Ian Crawford, Web Communications Editor

Students who receive Pell Grants are almost twice as likely to graduate with loan debt as higher income students. More than seven in ten, grant recipients in 2003-04 graduated with student loan debt compared to just over four in ten of other bachelor degree recipients.

This is one of a number of statistics, from a new report, 2007 Status Report on the Pell Grant Program from the Center for Policy Analysis at the American Council on Education (ACE), that describe the Pell Grant program and its low-income recipients.

Since it's inception in 1973, the Pell Grant program has grown to provide $13 billion in assistance to around 5.3 million students – more than one-third of the U.S. undergraduate population in 2004-05.

However, the real dollar value of the grant has not been constant over the years.

Maximum Pell Grant Awards, in Constant 2004 Dollars

1975	$4,820
1995	$2,910
2002	$4,227
2004	$4,050

Moreover, according to the report, the grant has not kept pace with inflation and the cost of tuition, fees, and living expenses at college.

The Maximum Pell Grant Coverage of the Average Price of Tuition, Fees and On-Campus Room and Board

	1979-80	2004-05
Public two-year institution	99 percent	62 percent
Public four-year institution	77 percent	36 percent
Private non profit college or university	36 percent	15 percent

The report states that Pell Grant recipients are four times more likely to borrow subsidized Stafford loans and twice as likely to borrow unsubsidized loans as other students.

Percentage of Undergraduates Receiving Stafford Loans, by Pell Grant Status: 2003–04

	Stafford Subsidized Loan	Stafford Unsubsidized Loan
Pell Grant recipients	56.5 percent	31.6 percent
All other students	17.2 percent	16.6 percent

Consequently, as the report states, Pell Grant recipients are far more likely to incur student loan debt than other students. In 2003-04,

• 73 percent of Pell Grant recipients graduated with student loan debt
• 42 percent of other bachelor degree recipients graduated with student loan debt
• recipients incurred a median of $17,598 in student loan debt compared to $15,544 by other undergraduates

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2007 Status Report on the Pell Grant Program - American Council on Education

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Story posted August 20, 2007.

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