HBCUs look for increases in federal pell grant under Biden

While students at FAMU, and other public universities in Florida, haven’t seen a tuition and fee increase since the 2012-13 year (over 8 years), advocates at HBCUs are hoping that President Joe Biden honors his campaign pledge to double the maximum Pell Grant to help students pay for college.  The maximum Pell Grant is currently $6,345 for the academic year.
 
The Pell Grants program is the cornerstone of the federal government’s effort to financially support low-income college students. But tuition increases, at most places, have far outstripped inflation, so the power of the Pell program has significantly diminished over the decades. According to a 2017 report by the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, the Pell Grant that year covered just 29 percent of the average cost of tuition, fees, room, and board at public four-year colleges. In 1975 it covered 79 percent.
 
A doubling of the maximum award would help needy students everywhere, but HBCUs educate a disproportionate number of those students. More than 70 percent of their students are eligible to receive a Pell Grant, according to the United Negro College Fund, and a robust increase would reduce the disproportionate debt that Black students carry.
 
BOG suggest things in Florida are good

This morning Florida Board of Government (FBOG) officials touted a report suggesting that more than 70%, or two-thirds, of students attending Florida’s public universities did so without having to take out any student loans.  The report also touted Florida’s tuition as the 2^nd lowest in the nation.  
 
Of the Florida students that had to take out loans, the average loan was $2,160 for a Florida resident.  That figure was down for the fifth year in a row.   The FBOG report also factored in an approximately $516 million in annual student support for Florida’s students through the Florida Bright Futures scholarship program.