[Congressional Record Volume 145, Number 54 (Tuesday, April 20, 1999)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E703]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]


            INTRODUCTION OF RESOLUTION ON PELL GRANT FUNDING

                                 ______
                                 

                         HON. MICHAEL N. CASTLE

                              of delaware

                    in the house of representatives

                        Tuesday, April 20, 1999

  Mr. CASTLE. Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to join with my colleagues on 
the Committee on Education and the Workforce to introduce a resolution 
urging Congress and the President to increase funding for the Pell 
Grant Program and existing Campus-Based Aid Programs.
  The Pell Grant Program was first authorized in 1972 in the Higher 
Education Act Amendments.It has become the largest need-based federal 
higher education scholarship program and is considered the foundation 
for all federal student aid. The purpose of the Pell Grant Program is 
to assist students from low income families who would not otherwise be 
financially able to attend a postsecondary institution by providing 
grants to students to pay the costs of attending the college of their 
choice. In the late 1970s, the Pell Grant Program covered 75 percent of 
the average cost of attending a public 4-year college. By the late 
1990s, however, it has only covered 36 percent of the cost of attending 
a public 4-year college.
  Families across the country are concerned about the rising cost of a 
college education, and for children from low income families, the cost 
of college continues to be an overwhelming factor in their decision not 
to attend. Children from high income families are almost twice as 
likely to enroll in college as compared with children from low income 
families. This is particularly noteworthy given the fact that higher 
education promotes economic opportunity for individuals and economic 
competitiveness for our nation. The Pell Grant Programs and Campus-
Based Aid Programs help to begin to fill the cost gaps that will, in 
turn, encourage students from low income families to attend college.
  Over the past few years, I have been pleased to support an increase 
in the Pell Grant maximum. Last year, under the Higher Education 
Amendments, the Committee on Education and the Workforce increased the 
authorization to a maximum grant level of $4,500 for 1999-2000, with 
annual increases of least $300 thereafter. However, the maximum Pell 
Grant appropriated has historically not kept pace with inflation and 
when college tuition increases are factored in, the buying power of the 
Pell Grant has been significantly reduced.
  Providing access to higher education for students across the nation 
is vitally important, and while I believe that colleges have the 
primary responsibility of ensuring that rate increases are fair and 
reasonable, I also believe that the Federal Government should assist 
students when postsecondary education is out of their reach.
  I am pleased to join with my colleagues today who believe that need 
based grant aid for low-income students must be our number one priority 
in higher education funding.

                          ____________________