"Federal funding for Pell Grants, and the number of awards given, plummeted between fiscal years 2011-12 and 2021-22. Black student enrollment in public colleges and universities plunged by nearly a half million students over that same period. A new report, produced by the University of Alabama's Education Policy Center for the Southern Education Foundation, suggests the declines in financial aid and Black students attending college are linked."
"The analysis found that Pell funding more than doubled between 2007-08 and 2011-12, from $14.7 billion to $33.6 billion; the number of awards grew from 5.5 million to 9.4 million. At the same time, enrollments and Pell recipients hit record highs at community colleges, regional and flagship universities, and historically Black college and universities. Researchers partly credited the 2009 American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, which required states to level-fund higher ed during the Great Recession, staving off skyrocketing tuition."
Pell Grant funding surged from $14.7 billion in 2007-08 to $33.6 billion in 2011-12, and awards rose from 5.5 million to 9.4 million, driving record Pell recipient and enrollment highs at community colleges, regional and flagship universities, and historically Black colleges and universities. The 2009 ARRA level-funding requirement helped keep tuition growth down and increased Pell purchasing power. After ARRA ended, Congress did not expand discretionary funding and instituted stricter Pell eligibility in 2012 while states cut higher education appropriations. By 2021-22 federal Pell funding fell to $25.8 billion and awards dropped to 6.2 million, coinciding with a near half-million decline in Black enrollment and disproportionate impacts on Southern rural and majority-Black institutions.
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