EDUCATION FORWARD ARIZONA APPLAUDS SENATE REVISIONS TO THE PELL PROGRAM, URGES HOUSE MEMBER SUPPORT
Recently, Education Forward Arizona joined more than 170 organizations across the nation in urging Congress to reject cuts to Pell Grants, need-based federal aid for college tuition, and instead increase investments in this cornerstone student assistance program that thousands of Arizona students rely on. We are thrilled to see that Arizona Senators Ruben Gallego and Mark Kelly, along with their Senate colleagues, have listened to our concerns.
Every student, regardless of their income, background, or zip code, deserves the opportunity to pursue education after high school. The House’s federal budget proposal threatened to dismantle that promise because it included a staggering estimated $10.9 billion in cuts to the Pell Grant program over the next ten fiscal years. Arizona students and families could not have afforded to lose this lifeline.
“Many Arizona students are dependent on Pell grants to make education and training after high school affordable,” said Rich Nickel, President and CEO of Education Forward Arizona. “As Arizona continues to increase investments in state-based financial aid programs, it’s critical that Arizona’s students can also count on a robust federal Pell Grant program and access those funds through a simplified FAFSA form (Free Application for Federal Student Aid).”
In 2022, nearly 40% of American college students received some form of Pell Grants. In Arizona that equated to nearly 130,000 Arizonans. Quick estimates show that more than half of those 130,000 who would have been impacted by the proposed cuts are from low-income or lower-middle-class families. These are working class Americans, many of whom are already juggling multiple jobs, family responsibilities and rising costs of living while pursuing a transformative postsecondary credential. Research by many, including Education Forward Arizona, demonstrates that Pell Grants often determine whether many of these specific types of students can persist through graduation or have to drop out due to financial strain in the absence of the aid Pell Grants provide.
We urge Arizona’s entire House of Representatives delegation to support the Pell provisions as written in the Senate bill. Cuts to Pell will stall the state’s progress toward its Achieve60AZ goal of 60% of adults holding a degree or credential by 2030. While the state has made slow and incremental progress towards this goal, any cuts threaten to send Arizona backwards. Defunding Pell Grants will leave students behind, reduce our talent pipeline and undermine Arizona’s economic competitiveness at a time when we can least afford it.
Education and training after high school lead to higher earnings, increased economic mobility and stronger civic engagement in Arizona. By continuing progress towards increased attainment of degrees and credentials after high school Arizona has billions to gain.