[Congressional Record Volume 153, Number 34 (Wednesday, February 28, 2007)]
[Senate]
[Pages S2362-S2363]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

      By Mrs. BOXER (for herself and Mrs. Feinstein):
  S. 707. A bill to provide all low-income students with the same 
opportunity to receive a Pell Grant by suspending the tuition 
sensitivity provision in the Pell Grant program; to the Committee on 
Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions.
  Mrs. FEINSTEIN. Mr. President, I am pleased to join Senator Boxer as 
a co-sponsor of the ``Pell Grant Equity Act of 2007'' that would 
provide all low-income students with the same opportunity to receive a 
Federal Pell Grant by eliminating the current tuition sensitivity 
provision in the Pell Grant Program.
  Federal Pell Grants are the cornerstone of our need-based financial 
aid system ensuring that all students have access to higher education.
  However, the Pell Grant program's eligibility formula penalizes low-
income students who attend very low-cost colleges by reducing the 
amount of the Pell Grant they can receive.
  The formula bases eligibility for Pell Grant awards on the amount of 
tuition charged by the college and provides a lower ``alternate'' 
amount for low tuition colleges, known as the ``tuition sensitivity'' 
provision.
  Community college students are significantly impacted by the tuition 
sensitivity provision because of low student tuition fees.
  In California, due to a drop in tuition fees from $26 per unit to $20 
unit, community college students enrolling this spring will otherwise 
be penalized with a $56 reduction in their 2007 Pell Grants and will 
endure another $112 hit in the 2007-2008 academic year if the tuition 
sensitivity provision is not eliminated.
  Community college students represent approximately 46 percent of 
higher education students in California

[[Page S2363]]

receiving Pell Grants and are the only ones negatively impacted by this 
provision.
  Any reduction of these vital grants to our lowest income students 
would have a major impact in their ability to afford college and 
continue their education, and we cannot allow this to happen.
  This bill would ensure that our nation's community college students 
are not unduly penalized for receiving an affordable education at a 
low-cost college.
  We must continue to do all we can to make a college education more 
accessible and affordable for all of our Nation's students.
  I urge my colleagues to join Senator Boxer and I in supporting this 
important legislation.
                                 ______