I
119THCONGRESS
1
STSESSION H. R. 1666
To index the maximum value of Federal Pell Grants to inflation.
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
FEBRUARY27, 2025
Mr. C
ASTEN(for himself, Ms. LEEof Nevada, Mr. MOULTON, Mr. GRIJALVA,
Mr. L
YNCH, Mr. MCGARVEY, Ms. BONAMICI, Mr. KRISHNAMOORTHI, Ms.
T
ITUS, Mr. GARCI´Aof Illinois, Ms. SCHRIER, Mrs. BEATTY, Ms.
B
ARRAGA´N, Ms. TOKUDA, Mr. BERA, Ms. ADAMS, Mr. JACKSONof Illi-
nois, Mr. D
ESAULNIER, Mr. KEATING, Mr. TRAN, Mrs. HAYES, Mr.
P
ETERS, Ms. PINGREE, Mr. WHITESIDES, Mr. THANEDAR, and Mr.
J
OHNSONof Georgia) introduced the following bill; which was referred to
the Committee on Education and Workforce
A BILL
To index the maximum value of Federal Pell Grants to
inflation.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-1
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Pell Grant Sustain-4
ability Act’’. 5
SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 6
Congress finds the following: 7
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(1) The purchasing power of the Federal Pell 1
Grant has declined rapidly since the 1970s. In aca-2
demic year 1974–1975, the total maximum Federal 3
Pell Grant covered 80 percent of base educational 4
costs at public 4-year institutions of higher edu-5
cation. By academic year 2022–2023, the maximum 6
Federal Pell Grant covered just 31 percent of those 7
base costs. 8
(2) The value of Federal Pell Grants must keep 9
pace with students’ costs in order to fulfill their mis-10
sion of enabling lower-income students to attend col-11
lege. 12
SEC. 3. INDEXING FEDERAL PELL GRANTS TO INFLATION. 13
Section 401(b) of the Higher Education Act of 1965 14
(20 U.S.C. 1070a(b)) is amended— 15
(1) by amending paragraph (5) to read as fol-16
lows: 17
‘‘(5) T
OTAL MAXIMUM FEDERAL PELL 18
GRANT.— 19
‘‘(A) I
N GENERAL.—For award year 2024– 20
2025 and each subsequent award year, the total 21
maximum Federal Pell Grant award per stu-22
dent shall be equal to the sum of— 23
‘‘(i)(I) for award year 2024–2025, 24
$1,060; or 25
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‘‘(II) for award year 2025–2026 and 1
each subsequent award year, the amount 2
determined under this clause for the pre-3
ceding award year, increased by a percent-4
age equal to the annual adjustment per-5
centage for the award year for which the 6
amount under this clause is being deter-7
mined; and 8
‘‘(ii) the amount specified as the max-9
imum Federal Pell Grant in the last en-10
acted appropriation Act applicable to that 11
award year. 12
‘‘(B) R
OUNDING.—The total maximum 13
Federal Pell Grant for any award year shall be 14
rounded to the nearest $5. 15
‘‘(C) A
NNUAL ADJUSTMENT PERCENTAGE 16
DEFINED.—In this paragraph, the term ‘annual 17
adjustment percentage’, as applied to an award 18
year, is equal to the estimated percentage 19
change in the Consumer Price Index (as deter-20
mined by the Secretary, using the definition in 21
section 478(f)) for the most recent calendar 22
year ending prior to the beginning of that 23
award year.’’; 24
(2) in paragraph (6)(A)(ii)— 25
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(A) by striking ‘‘each of the fiscal years’’ 1
and inserting ‘‘fiscal year’’; and 2
(B) by striking ‘‘through 2034’’ and in-3
serting ‘‘and each subsequent fiscal year’’; and 4
(3) in paragraph (8)(A), by striking ‘‘through 5
fiscal year 2034’’. 6
Æ
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