GAO: Student Eligibility for Pell Grants Increased After FAFSA Simplification
By Maria Carrasco, NASFAA Staff Reporter
While the implementation of FAFSA simplification was a tumultuous experience for students, financial aid offices, and the broader higher education community, a new report from the Government Accountability Office (GAO) found that FAFSA simplification succeeded in increasing student eligibility for the federal Pell Grant program, along with increased eligibility for the maximum Pell Grant award for the 2024-25 award year.
For this report, GAO was asked by Rep. Bobby Scott (D-Va.), ranking member of the House Education and Workforce Committee, to examine how student eligibility for Pell Grants changed after FAFSA simplification. In response, GAO analyzed aggregated federal financial aid data for undergraduate students for the 2023-24 and 2024-25 FAFSA cycles from the Department of Education (ED) and reviewed relevant federal laws and ED policies.
Notably, for the 2024-25 award year, ED began implementing the new formula for determining Pell Grant eligibility, the new Student Aid Index (SAI) formula which replaced the Expected Family Contribution (EFC), along with other improvements to the FAFSA form as part of implementing the FAFSA Simplification Act and FUTURE Act, which were both signed into law in 2020 and 2019, respectively.
Specifically for the 2024-25 award year, 14 million students submitted a FAFSA, a 2% decrease from 2023-24, representing roughly 260,000 fewer students. While there were fewer applicants, under FAFSA simplification ED saw an increase in Pell Grant eligibility of 6%, or 570,000 students, totaling in 9.9 million applicants being eligible for the Pell Grant in 2024-25, compared to the year before.
GAO noted that this increase in Pell Grant eligibility was largely seen for applicants in the household income ranges between $60,001 and $125,000.
The largest gain between 2023-24 and 2024-25 was the increase in students eligible for the maximum Pell Grant award. According to GAO, 1.9 million more students were eligible for the maximum Pell Grant in 2024-25, which is a 31% increase. Overall, in 2024-25, 7.9 million students were eligible for the maximum amount.
This increase was largely seen in applicants with a household income range between $40,001 and $80,000. GAO noted that this specific group of applicants more than doubled compared to the 2023-24 year.
GAO also found that the number of students who reported no assets (including those who were not required to report assets) increased by about 2.4 million in the 2024-25 award year compared to the previous year, and 91% of these students were Pell-eligible in 2024-25, with 85% eligible for the maximum Pell award. That’s compared to the 2023-24 analysis, where 88% of students who reported no assets were eligible for Pell, with 75% eligible for the maximum Pell award.
Other findings from GAO included that over 90% of students in certain vulnerable populations, such as those who were homeless or were in foster care, were eligible for a Pell Grant in 2024-25.
Additionally, GAO noted that eligibility for a Pell Grant and the maximum Pell award increased for students with at least one other family member in college, with 60% of these students eligible for Pell Grants in 2024-25 compared with 55% in 2023-24. There were previous concerns that since the SAI formula does not take into account a family's number in college, these students could potentially lose Pell Grant eligibility.
And of these students with at least one other family member in college, 77% were eligible for the maximum Pell award in 2024-25, compared with 48% in 2023-24.
On Monday, Scott applauded the report’s results and noted that Congress should continue to do more to improve students’ access to Pell Grants.
“In 2020, Congress took decisive action to reform the financial aid process and expand access to higher education for students across the country,” Scott said in a statement. “Today’s report confirms that those reforms worked. Pell Grants break down economic barriers and open pathways to higher education for those who need it most. I was proud to work with former Senate HELP Committee Chair Lamar Alexander to pass the FAFSA Simplification Act, which was an important first step to expand access for students and families.”
Publication Date: 5/13/2026
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