By NICK GOSNELL
Hutch Post
HUTCHINSON, Kan. — President Joe Biden called for an increase in Pell Grants in his 2022 State of the Union. Hutchinson Community College President Carter File believes an expansion may be worthwhile.
"The premiere flagship program in higher education to help students is the Pell Grant," File said. "I think that they could achieve what they're trying to achieve by increasing the Pell Grant eligibility, rather than having an entirely new program."
The maximum Federal Pell Grant award is $6,495 for the 2022–23 award year.
"You are given a Pell Grant based upon what your EFC is, your Expected Family Contribution," File said. "If they would just expand the EFC, it would capture more community college students, because they would now fall under the Pell Grant guidelines."
File noted that the Promise Act in Kansas is a real help to students.
"One of the problems with Pell Grants is they look back on what you earned," File said. "If you want to stop working and go to college if you're in your mid-twenties to mid-thirties, you're earning enough money that you don't qualify for Pell so the first year, it would be difficult."
The Promise Act is a last dollar scholarship, so it fills in where financial aid doesn't for those with a family income of $100,000 or less.