Pell Grant boost passes Senate

A $400 increase in individual Pell Grant awards, intended to raise the maximum individual grant to $3,700, cleared the Senate last week.

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The amendment, attached to the Senate’s fiscal year 2001 budget resolution by U.S. Sens. Russell Feingold, D-Wis., and Edward Kennedy, D-Mass., is an effort to keep higher education affordable, Feingold says.

“Pell Grant is the key that enables many individuals to graduate from college,” Feingold says, citing the a 23 percent erosion in the value of Pell Grants over the past 25 years. “By supporting an increase for the Pell Grant program, the Senate has renewed its commitment to equal access for all to higher education.”

Pell is a key program for UW–Madison undergraduates because it goes to the students with the greatest needs, according to Rhonda Norsetter, special assistant for federal relations to Chancellor David Ward.

“This sets the stage for a greater increase in Pell than we anticipated,” Norsetter says.