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To index the maximum value of Federal Pell Grants to inflation.
Summary
The bill amends the Higher Education Act to index the maximum value of Federal Pell Grants to inflation, beginning with award year 2024-2025. The maximum grant for 2024-2025 is set at $1,060, and for each subsequent year, the prior year amount is increased by the annual adjustment percentage equal to the change in the Consumer Price Index. The bill rounds the resulting grant amount to the nearest $5 and adds any additional grant amount from the most recent appropriation act for that year. The bill removes sunset dates that previously limited Pell Grant indexing, making the inflation adjustment permanent.
AI-generated plain-language summary of the bill text — neutral, and may be imperfect. See the full text below for the exact wording.
Sponsor (1)
- Rep. Casten, Sean [D-IL-6] (D-IL)
41 cosponsors
- Rep. Adams, Alma S. [D-NC-12] (D-NC)
- Rep. Barragán, Nanette Diaz [D-CA-44] (D-CA)
- Rep. Beatty, Joyce [D-OH-3] (D-OH)
- Rep. Bera, Ami [D-CA-6] (D-CA)
- Rep. Bonamici, Suzanne [D-OR-1] (D-OR)
- Rep. Cisneros, Gilbert Ray, Jr. [D-CA-31] (D-CA)
- Rep. Craig, Angie [D-MN-2] (D-MN)
- Rep. DelBene, Suzan K. [D-WA-1] (D-WA)
- Rep. DeSaulnier, Mark [D-CA-10] (D-CA)
- Rep. Evans, Dwight [D-PA-3] (D-PA)
- Rep. García, Jesús G. "Chuy" [D-IL-4] (D-IL)
- Rep. Grijalva, Adelita S. [D-AZ-7] (D-AZ)
- Rep. Grijalva, Raúl M. [D-AZ-7] (D-AZ)
- Rep. Hayes, Jahana [D-CT-5] (D-CT)
- Rep. Jackson, Jonathan L. [D-IL-1] (D-IL)
- Rep. Jacobs, Sara [D-CA-51] (D-CA)
- Rep. Johnson, Henry C. "Hank" [D-GA-4] (D-GA)
- Rep. Johnson, Julie [D-TX-32] (D-TX)
- Rep. Keating, William R. [D-MA-9] (D-MA)
- Rep. Krishnamoorthi, Raja [D-IL-8] (D-IL)
- Rep. Larson, John B. [D-CT-1] (D-CT)
- Rep. Latimer, George [D-NY-16] (D-NY)
- Rep. Lee, Susie [D-NV-3] (D-NV)
- Rep. Lynch, Stephen F. [D-MA-8] (D-MA)
- Rep. Magaziner, Seth [D-RI-2] (D-RI)
- Rep. McGarvey, Morgan [D-KY-3] (D-KY)
- Rep. Moulton, Seth [D-MA-6] (D-MA)
- Rep. Peters, Scott H. [D-CA-50] (D-CA)
- Rep. Pingree, Chellie [D-ME-1] (D-ME)
- Rep. Quigley, Mike [D-IL-5] (D-IL)
- Rep. Randall, Emily [D-WA-6] (D-WA)
- Rep. Scholten, Hillary J. [D-MI-3] (D-MI)
- Rep. Schrier, Kim [D-WA-8] (D-WA)
- Rep. Stansbury, Melanie A. [D-NM-1] (D-NM)
- Rep. Thanedar, Shri [D-MI-13] (D-MI)
- Rep. Titus, Dina [D-NV-1] (D-NV)
- Rep. Tlaib, Rashida [D-MI-12] (D-MI)
- Rep. Tokuda, Jill N. [D-HI-2] (D-HI)
- Rep. Tran, Derek [D-CA-45] (D-CA)
- Rep. Walkinshaw, James R. [D-VA-11] (D-VA)
- Rep. Whitesides, George [D-CA-27] (D-CA)
Money behind the sponsor
Top reported contributors to Sean Casten’s campaign committee (2024 cycle) — who funds the bill’s sponsor, not a claim about this bill. Data from FEC.
- NORTHWESTERN UNIVERSITY $15,800
- UNIVERSITY OF CHICAGO $13,975
- CME GROUP $12,925
- DUPAGE MEDICAL GROUP $12,900
- MESIROW FINANCIAL $9,900
Organizations whose employees gave the most — itemized individual contributions grouped by the donor’s reported employer (FEC Schedule A). Full finance for Sean Casten → · Outside spending →
Actions (2)
- Feb 27, 2025 Referred to the House Committee on Education and Workforce. · house
- Feb 27, 2025 Introduced in House
More bills on these subjects (8)
Other bills that carry the most legislative subjects in common with this one (topical discovery — distinct from the procedural related bills above).
Similar bills (6)
Bills with similar text or summary — includes reintroductions across Congresses. Ranked by semantic similarity of the bill text (computed locally); a neutral discovery aid, not a claim the bills are duplicates.
Text versions (1)
Bills are re-published as they move (Introduced → Reported → Engrossed → Enrolled …). Each stage below is a separate text; pick two to see what changed. Data from Congress.gov.
Full text
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
February 27, 2025
Mr. Casten (for himself, Ms. Lee of Nevada, Mr. Moulton, Mr. Grijalva, Mr. Lynch, Mr. McGarvey, Ms. Bonamici, Mr. Krishnamoorthi, Ms. Titus, Mr. Garcia of Illinois, Ms. Schrier, Mrs. Beatty, Ms. Barragan, Ms. Tokuda, Mr. Bera, Ms. Adams, Mr. Jackson of Illinois, Mr. DeSaulnier, Mr. Keating, Mr. Tran, Mrs. Hayes, Mr. Peters, Ms. Pingree, Mr. Whitesides, Mr. Thanedar, and Mr. Johnson of Georgia) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Education and Workforce
A BILL
To index the maximum value of Federal Pell Grants to inflation.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the “Pell Grant Sustainability Act”.
SEC. 2. FINDINGS.
Congress finds the following:
(1) The purchasing power of the Federal Pell Grant has declined rapidly since the 1970s. In academic year 1974-1975, the total maximum Federal Pell Grant covered 80 percent of base educational costs at public 4-year institutions of higher education. By academic year 2022-2023, the maximum Federal Pell Grant covered just 31 percent of those base costs.
(2) The value of Federal Pell Grants must keep pace with students’ costs in order to fulfill their mission of enabling lower-income students to attend college.
SEC. 3. INDEXING FEDERAL PELL GRANTS TO INFLATION.
Section 401(b) of the Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1070a(b)) is amended—
(1) by amending paragraph (5) to read as follows:
“(5) Total maximum federal pell grant.—
“(A) In general.—For award year 2024-2025 and each subsequent award year, the total maximum Federal Pell Grant award per student shall be equal to the sum of—
“(i)(I) for award year 2024-2025, $1,060; or
“(II) for award year 2025-2026 and each subsequent award year, the amount determined under this clause for the preceding award year, increased by a percentage equal to the annual adjustment percentage for the award year for which the amount under this clause is being determined; and
“(ii) the amount specified as the maximum Federal Pell Grant in the last enacted appropriation Act applicable to that award year.
“(B) Rounding.—The total maximum Federal Pell Grant for any award year shall be rounded to the nearest $5.
“(C) Annual adjustment percentage defined.—In this paragraph, the term ‘annual adjustment percentage’, as applied to an award year, is equal to the estimated percentage change in the Consumer Price Index (as determined by the Secretary, using the definition in section 478(f)) for the most recent calendar year ending prior to the beginning of that award year.”;
(2) in paragraph (6)(A)(ii)—
(A) by striking “each of the fiscal years” and inserting “fiscal year”; and
(B) by striking “through 2034” and inserting “and each subsequent fiscal year”; and
(3) in paragraph (8)(A), by striking “through fiscal year 2034”. <all>
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