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Paulsen Calls for Full Funding of Pell Grants

Paulsen Calls for Full Funding of Pell Grants
MN 3rd District Congressman introduces legislation affirming commitment to important financial tool for students


Washington, D.C. – Congressman Erik Paulsen (MN-03) today introduced legislation in the U.S. House of Representatives calling for full funding of Pell grants, the single largest source of federal grant aid for post-secondary education.  The Pell grant program currently faces an estimated $5 billion budgetary shortfall, which threatens critical financial aid for students across the nation.  Paulsen’s legislation (H.R.5198), introduced with five original co-sponsors, expresses the Sense of Congress that the federal Pell Grant Program should be a high funding priority.
 
“Pell grants are one of the most important tools in helping students afford the growing costs of postsecondary education, especially as the economy continues to lag,” Paulsen said. “As Congress seeks to prioritize the federal budget, meeting the commitments we’ve made to students who depend on Pell grants will be critically important. I’m hopeful this bipartisan effort will bring greater attention to this need, while also building momentum to fully fund Pell grant awards as we go forward.”

Pell grants are need-based financial aid tools that serve as the foundation for undergraduate federal aid.  According to the U.S. Department of Education, Pell grants constituted approximately 22% of all federally supported aid in 2009 that benefit postsecondary education students at all levels.  

Additionally, the number of undergraduate students who applied for a Pell grant in the last year increased by 2.4 million, one of the largest increases ever recorded. This year the program is estimated to provide aid to 8.3 million undergraduate students across the United States.

For more information, on Paulsen’s work in Congress, please visit www.paulsen.house.gov.

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