Between 2011 and 2022, federal funding for Pell Grants and the number of students receiving these crucial awards experienced a drastic decline. Alarmingly, over the same decade, nearly half a million Black students disappeared from public college and university campuses across the United States. A new report from the University of Alabama’s Education Policy Center, in collaboration with the Southern Education Foundation, strongly indicates a troubling connection between these two trends.
This analysis meticulously traced decades of Pell Grant funding trends, pinpointing the outsized impact of these changes on rural and majority-Black public institutions across the American South. Researchers compiled extensive data from the Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System and 47 Pell Grant end-of-year reports provided by the U.S. Department of Education.
Years of Growth Followed by Significant Cuts
The period between 2007-08 and 2011-12 saw a remarkable surge in Pell funding, more than doubling from $14.7 billion to $33.6 billion. Concurrently, the number of awards soared from 5.5 million to 9.4 million. During this time, community colleges, regional and flagship universities, and Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) all reported record-high enrollments and Pell Grant recipients. A pivotal factor in this expansion was the 2009 American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, which mandated states to maintain higher education funding even amidst the Great Recession, thereby stabilizing tuition costs and broadening the reach of Pell Grants.
However, once these emergency funds expired, Congress failed to allocate additional discretionary support. This legislative inaction was compounded in 2012 when more stringent eligibility criteria were introduced. Simultaneously, states began to curtail their appropriations for higher education. Consequently, federal funding for Pell Grants plummeted to $25.8 billion between 2011-12 and 2021-22, and the number of awards issued dropped by over a third, settling at 6.2 million.
A co-author of the report, F. King Alexander, a professor of educational leadership and policy at Florida Gulf Coast University, highlighted the severity of the situation, noting that millions fewer students received Pell Grants in recent years compared to a decade ago, yet this critical issue largely goes unaddressed.
The report further underscored that the maximum Pell Grant award has consistently failed to keep pace with the escalating costs of college. In the fiscal year 2021-22, the average award stood at $4,685, significantly less than the maximum of $6,495. This amount proved insufficient to cover tuition and fees at an average full-time community college in Alabama, leaving a considerable gap for students.
Black Students Bear the Brunt
While the researchers refrained from asserting a direct cause-and-effect relationship, the correlation between Pell Grant reductions and declining Black student enrollment is strikingly clear. Between 2011-12 and 2021-22, the population of Black students in higher education decreased by 487,109 individuals, with a staggering 58 percent of this decline concentrated in Southern states. This region is home to over half of the nation’s Black college students, and 218 of the country’s 279 majority-Black institutions are situated in the South.
In Southern colleges and universities, the number of Pell Grant recipients fell by 23 percent in 2021-22 compared to ten years prior, and overall student enrollment dipped by 521,241. Almost 25 percent less Pell funding reached Southern institutions, impacting 16 states that experienced a drop in Black student enrollment. Noel Keeney, a graduate research assistant and director of data analytics at the University of Alabama’s Education Policy Center, emphasized the dire consequences, stating that as Black and low-income students receive less Pell aid, they are either unable to enroll at all or cannot complete their programs due to lack of funds.
The South’s Under-Resourced Colleges Struggle
The report specifically highlighted the acute vulnerability of public community colleges in the South, particularly those in rural, suburban, and urban areas. These institutions witnessed an overall enrollment drop of 19 percent, while Black student enrollment plummeted by nearly 30 percent. Community colleges with predominantly Black student bodies, many of which are located in rural areas, experienced an alarming 55 percent decline in enrollment. Furthermore, these institutions endured reductions of at least one-third of their Pell funding between 2011-12 and 2021-22.
The problem is compounded by limited state-based, need-focused aid. Jim Purcell, executive director of the Alabama Commission on Higher Education, explained that Southern states have historically prioritized merit-based scholarships over need-based assistance. Consequently, when federal Pell funds fluctuate, these under-resourced institutions are left exposed and vulnerable.
Albany State University, an HBCU in Georgia, serves as a poignant example of this impact. Following the imposition of new eligibility requirements by Congress in 2012, the university experienced a continuous loss of over 1,000 students for five consecutive years. Arthur N. Dunning, who served as Albany State’s president from 2013 to 2018, reported a substantial $2.5 million reduction in tuition and fee revenue, which inevitably led to cuts in faculty and crucial student support services.
Stabilizing Pell and Supporting Southern Colleges
To address this critical issue, the report offers several key recommendations: advocating for Pell Grant funding to be fully mandatory, thereby insulating it from discretionary budget cuts; restoring funding levels to those of 2011-12, adjusted for inflation; and urging state lawmakers to expand need-based financial aid programs. Stephen G. Katsinas, director of the Education Policy Center, underscored the foundational role of Pell Grants, stating that they are the very root of a middle-class America and a middle-class Black America. He asserted that America’s HBCUs and public institutions in the South are vital for academic and intellectual development, and therefore, they unequivocally deserve sustained support.
The gathered data unequivocally demonstrates that federal Pell funding transcends a mere budget line item; it is a fundamental pillar of educational opportunity for Black students and low-income learners throughout the South. Cuts to these essential grants create far-reaching ripple effects, profoundly influencing who can afford a college education and which institutions can survive. For millions of Southern Black students, the promise of upward mobility, once within reach, is now precariously vanishing.