[Congressional Record Volume 149, Number 8 (Thursday, January 16, 2003)]
[Senate]
[Page S1078]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

      By Mr. DODD (for himself, Ms. Mikulski, Mr. Jeffords, Mrs. 
        Murray, Ms. Landrieu, and Mr. Dayton):
  S. 184. A bill to amend section 401(b)(2) of the Higher Education Act 
of 1965 regarding the Federal Pell Grant maximum amount; to the 
Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions.
  Mr. DODD. Mr. President, I rise, and am joined by my colleagues 
Senator Mikulski, Senator Jeffords, Senator Murray, Senator Landrieu 
and Senator Dayton, to introduce legislation to amend the Higher 
Education Act to improve access to higher education for low- and 
middle-income students by doubling the authorized maximum Pell Grant 
within six years. This bill has the strong support of the Student Aid 
Alliance, whose 60 organizations represent students, colleges, parents, 
and others who care about higher education.
  Pell Grants were established in the early 1970s by our former 
colleague, Claiborne Pell, of Rhode Island. They are the largest source 
of federal grant aid for college students. For millions of low- and 
middle-income students they are the difference between attending or not 
attending college. But, unfortunately, they don't make as much of a 
difference as they used to.
  In 1975, the maximum appropriated Pell Grant covered all of the 
average student's tuition, fees, room, and board at community colleges. 
It covered about 80 percent of those costs at public universities and 
about 40 percent at private universities. Today, Pell Grant's 
purchasing power has dropped by more than 30 percent at community 
colleges and been more than cut in half at universities. It covers only 
38 percent of the costs at public universities and 15 percent at 
private universities. That's not just a drop, it's a free-fall.
  For students from the lowest income families, college is getting 
farther and farther out of reach. Since 1975, as a percentage of the 
family income of the poorest 20 percent of families, the cost of public 
universities has increased by half and the cost of private universities 
has doubled. For middle-income families, the cost of college also has 
increased significantly as a percentage of income.
  As a result of all this, low- and middle-income students who want to 
attend college are forced to finance their education with an ever-
increasing percentage of loans as opposed to grants, which effectively 
increases their cost of attendance even more and in many cases, keeps 
them from going to college at all.
  Of course, the President's budget would have frozen the maximum Pell 
Grant. So, on top of leaving millions of children behind by failing to 
meet the bipartisan promises of the No Child Left Behind Act, the 
President's budget would leave even more children behind who work hard 
and do well in school and want to go on to college.
  We can't kid ourselves, if we're serious about leaving no child 
behind, if we're serious about having a society where equal opportunity 
for all is more than just rhetoric, then we need to reinvigorate the 
Pell program.
  The Student Aid Alliance put it very well, in talking about students, 
when they said that ``investing in their future is investing in our 
nation's future.'' We can start investing in our Nation's future by 
supporting the amendment that will be offered to the Omnibus 
appropriations bill today to increase the maximum appropriated Pell 
Grant to $4,500.
  That won't bring Pell Grant's purchasing power back to where it was 
in 1975, but it is a critical first step, and I intend to continue the 
effort through this bill and other measures as we reauthorize the 
Higher Education Act this Congress.
  I hope that my colleagues will join me.
  I ask unanimous consent that the text of the bill be printed in the 
Record.
  There being no objection, the bill was ordered to be printed in the 
Record, as follows:

                                 S. 184

       Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of 
     the United States of America in Congress assembled,

     SECTION 1. FEDERAL PELL GRANT MAXIMUM AMOUNT.

       Section 401(b)(2) of the Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 
     U.S.C. 1070a(b)(2)) is amended--
       (1) by redesignating subparagraph (B) as subparagraph (C);
       (2) by amending subparagraph (A) to read as follows:
       ``(A) Except as provided in subparagraph (B), the amount of 
     the Federal Pell Grant for a student eligible under this part 
     shall be--
       ``(i) $6,700 for academic year 2004-2005;
       ``(ii) $7,600 for academic year 2005-2006;
       ``(iii) $8,600 for academic year 2006-2007;
       ``(iv) $9,600 for academic year 2007-2008;
       ``(v) $10,600 for academic year 2008-2009; and
       ``(vi) $11,600 for academic year 2009-2010,
     less an amount equal to the amount determined to be the 
     expected family contribution with respect to that student for 
     that year.''; and
       (3) by inserting after subparagraph (A) (as so amended) the 
     following:
       ``(B) If the Secretary determines that the increase from 
     one academic year to the next in the amount of the maximum 
     Federal Pell Grant authorized under subparagraph (A) does not 
     increase students' purchasing power (relative to the cost of 
     attendance at an institution of higher education) by at least 
     5 percentage points, then the amount of the maximum Federal 
     Pell Grant authorized under subparagraph (A) for the academic 
     year for which the determination is made shall be increased 
     by an amount sufficient to achieve such a 5 percentage point 
     increase.''.
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