More than 7 million students rely on Pell each year to make higher education possible, yet the program faces a funding shortfall at the very moment students need it most. Our campaign is joining the fight to fully fund the Pell Program, targeting Congress, elected officials and rallying student leaders and everyday people all over the country.
Instead of investing in college affordability, the President, billionaires, and big corporate interests are attacking higher education and blocking the opportunities that Pell Grants make possible for working-class students and families.
Through 2026 and beyond, the Emergency Campaign will raise public awareness of the growing affordability crisis and the urgent need to lower college costs, using the fight to protect and expand Pell Grants as a rallying point.
We are building a community-centered movement to fully fund and expand the Pell Grant program.
This fight is the first chapter in a much larger battle to lower the cost of college. Pell is a clear example of how public investment has failed to keep pace with the rising cost of college, forcing students and families to bear the burden through debt and financial sacrifice.
Strengthening the Pell Grant program is both a critical fight in its own right and a key component toward our broader goal of debt-free college for all.
The Emergency Campaign is conducting an aggressive national education and advocacy effort.
In July, the campaign convened with students to gear up for the fight to double Pell. We will continue to host virtual and in-person town hall events to bring the public up to speed on the fight to double Pell and create avenues for them to make their voices heard.
The Emergency Campaign intends to empower those who are passionate about making college affordable to support the effort to pass the Pell Grant Preservation and Expansion Act.
The Emergency Campaign to Support Higher Education is sending congressional postcards, demanding that Congress makes college affordable for all by empowering Pell Grants. This is our message:
I’m writing as your constituent to urge you to close the Pell Grant funding shortfall without cutting other education investments and to double the maximum Pell Grant award to keep up with rising costs.
Pell Grants are a lifeline for millions of students, but college costs have far outpaced Pell’s value, forcing students and families to work more, make difficult financial choices, and take on more debt.
Congress should make college more affordable—not shift the burden onto students or pit education priorities against one another.
Please support closing the Pell shortfall without cutting other education investments, doubling the maximum Grant, indexing it to inflation so its value keeps pace with rising costs, and moving Pell to a mandatory funding stream to ensure students aren’t subject to annual budget crises.
I’d appreciate hearing where you stand on these priorities.
