FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Allie Arcese
Managing Editor 
(202) 785-6954 
[email protected]

WASHINGTON, D.C., MARCH 1, 2022 — President Joe Biden delivered his first State of the Union address on Tuesday night, and while the speech covered a wide breadth of issues — ranging from the ongoing impact of the pandemic to the crisis in Ukraine — it also touched on the administration’s domestic priorities, including its higher education agenda, and specifically, increasing the maximum Pell Grant award.

NASFAA President Justin Draeger issued the following statement after the State of the Union address: 

“We are pleased to see the Biden administration’s commitment to increasing funding for this foundational student aid program and urge Congress to take action and include this investment in the federal budget. 

While this is a welcome step forward, there is still a long way to go to ensure the purchasing power of the Pell Grant is restored for the approximately 6 million low- and moderate-income students who depend on the program to enroll in college each year. 

Doubling the maximum award would make up for necessary investments in federal student aid that have been pushed off for decades, and targets resources to students with the greatest need. As the program's 50th anniversary approaches, we applaud this proposal to deliver additional dollars to low-income Pell Grant recipients and urge Congress and President Biden to ensure affordable higher education is accessible to all students by doubling the maximum Pell Grant.” 

About  NASFAA 

The National Association of Student Financial Aid Administrators (NASFAA) is a nonprofit membership organization that represents more than 28,000 financial aid professionals at approximately 3,000 colleges, universities, and career schools across the country. NASFAA member institutions serve nine out of every 10 undergraduates in the U.S. Based in Washington, DC, NASFAA is the only national association with a primary focus on student aid legislation, regulatory analysis, and training for financial aid administrators. For more information, visit www.nasfaa.org.