Reps. Kilmer and Brooks Introduce Pell Plus Act of 2019

Representatives Derek Kilmer (D-WA) and Susan Brooks (R-IN) have introduced the Pell Plus Act of 2019, which would reward Pell Grant recipients on a path to on-time completion with a bonus grant.  
 
The Pell Plus Act, derived from proposal developed by NAICU several years ago, would help promote college completion by establishing a partnership with colleges and universities to provide a Pell Grant bonus to low-income students in their third and fourth years who are on a path to on-time completion.
 
Pell Plus has two major components:

• Students in their third and fourth year who are on track to graduate in four years would be given access to an extra “bonus” Pell Grant from the amount they would have been eligible to receive if they had taken longer to graduate.
• Any Pell bonus amount awarded to a student would be matched dollar-for-dollar by participating colleges and universities.

The net effect of this proposal would be to triple the amount of Pell Grant assistance during the final two years of study for students who are on track to on-time completion. Using the 2019-2020 academic year as a baseline, the nation’s lowest income students would receive an annual grant of $18,585 to attend the college of their choice.
 
Pell Plus takes a student-centered approach by focusing on grant-sharing payments to students that can reduce net price and promote college completion.
 
The Pell Plus Act also encourages reduced student debt loads and institutional “skin in the game,” while continuing the federal commitment to investing in the nation’s neediest students.
 

For more information, please contact:
Tim Powers