Despite $400 boost, Pell Grants fall far short of original goal to make college more affordable for low- and middle-income students
- Written by Donald E. Heller, Provost and Vice President of Academic Affairs, University of San Francisco
The Pell Grant covers less than 30 percent of the costs to attend a four-year public college. Craig F. Walker/The Boston Globe via Getty ImagesBack around when the Pell Grant was created by Congress in 1973 to help students from low-income families pay for higher education, it covered 80% of the costs of attending a public four-year college or...

