Important eligibility and funding changes to Pell Grants

Although Congress and the president have now enacted a federal budget that maintains the Pell Grant maximum at $5,550 for the 2012-2013 academic year, a set of changes to Pell eligibility were enacted that will affect students currently receiving grants.

These amendments include limiting Pell grants to a total of 12 semesters, not 18, as in the past. Additionally, students currently receiving less than 10 percent of the maximum grant ($5,550) will lose eligibility. Finally, the threshold maximum family income that would automatically qualify a student for the maximum grant has been reduced from $30,000 to $23,000.

It is projected that these changes would result in more than 1,110 FIU students losing Pell Grant eligibility entirely and an additional 1,500 FIU recipients will see their grants reduced. Currently, more than 17,000 FIU students receive Pell Grants. That’s more than 48 percent of our undergraduate student population. Seventy-eight percent of those recipients are also first generation college students. (A more complete profile can be found on the university’s Governmental Relations site.)

Advocating to protect Pell Grants has been a top priority for our Federal Relations team and advocates like Student Government Association presidents Denise Halpin and Patrick O’Keefe, who personally advocated for all FIU students on this issue to our Congressional Delegation. President Rosenberg also wrote a recent op-ed on this issue.

Along with these financial aid decisions, other aspects of the appropriations legislation will result in minor reductions to Department of Education funding for Hispanic-Serving Institutions (H-SI) while H-SI funding at the Department of Agriculture was maintained. Funding for the National Institutes of Health was also increased. These three agencies are just a few that are critical to FIU’s research initiatives.

Our team will continue to review the impact of this year’s appropriations actions and advocate with the higher education community as the FY13 appropriations process begins.

At the same time, we are also advancing our legislative priorities that can serve as a catalyst for growing South Florida’s economy. Of immediate importance this summer is advocacy for key, funded research designations; protecting financial aid resources; and positioning FIU to succeed in new competitions for Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math (STEM) education.

For more information on our efforts in Washington, D.C., contact Federal Relations at 202-600-4562. For more information regarding how changes to the Pell Grant program might affect you, contact Financial Aid at 305-348-7272.

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