Legislators want short-term Pell — but can’t agree on the details
Lilah Burke
April 4, 2023
Congress is considering three proposals that would allow Pell Grants to go toward programs shorter than 15 weeks.
The federal Pell Grant program, one of the most well-known ways to help low-income students pay for college, can only be applied to college programs that last longer than 15 weeks. But some advocates have long wanted to offer more flexibility for students taking shorter programs. This policy idea, colloquially called short-term Pell, has broad bipartisan support and now is the subject of multiple proposals floating around Congress.
“The fact that there are three bills right now on short-term Pell shows that there’s definitely interest in the conversation,” said Michelle Dimino, deputy director of education at the nonprofit organization Third Way. “But also the fact there are three bills shows that there is pretty healthy disagreement around what expanding Pell to short-term programs should actually look like.”
