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.
The Problem:
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.
Our Demands for Congress:
- Invest in students, prevent cuts to Pell, and pass the Pell Grant
- Preservation and Expansion Act, which will double the maximum Pell grant, index Pell to inflation, and
- stabilize its funding for future generations. Through 2026 and beyond, we 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.
Why The Emergency Campaign For Higher Education Is Joining This Fight:
- The Emergency Campaign to Support Higher Education is 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 Pell is both a critical fight in its own right and a key component toward our broader goal of debt-free college for all.
What is the Emergency Campaign Doing:
- The Emergency Campaign is conducting an aggressive national education and advocacy effort. In July, the campaign will convene students to gear up for the fight to double Pell.
- The campaign is hosting virtual and in-person town hall events starting in July 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.