Supporters of President Barack Obama’s prioritization of higher education are praising his most recent budget proposal, which would increase the maximum value of Pell Grants as well as the number of students eligible for them.

MPR Photo/Tim Post

The number of students eligible for grants would skyrocket from 4,888,000 this year to over 5,152,000 next year, according to a report released by the Institute for America’s Future last month. The 260,000 additional grants will be doled out based on family income, individual income and assets.

Obama’s proposal will increase the average Pell Grant by $121. The budget proposal also ups the maximum value of a Pell Grant from $5,350 to $5,550.

The Institute for America’s Future is a progressive think-tank focused on environmental and energy policy, health care, social security, education and congressional accountability. Its sister organization, Campaign for America’s Future, proposes solutions to the problems  through the institutes’s research.

“President Obama’s plan for reforming the American educational system is a strong first step that will move the country the right direction by making college affordable,” said Bob Borosage, president of the institute and co-director of the Campaign for America’s Future.

The report argues that the ever rising cost of college has severely undermined the effectiveness of the Pell Grant. Tuition increased 5 percent nationally last year, and has jumped 29 percent since 2000. In 1977, a maximum amount Pell Grant covered 77 percent of public college costs, but this year a maximum grant can cover only 35 percent, according to the report.

“The president’s budget shows he has a general agenda to boost aid for students by making loans more accessible,” Borosage said.

Supporters of the budget proposal also argue that the larger grant will improve accessibility for minorities.

“At a time when our economy is struggling this is just the kind of investment we need,” said Hilary Shelton, director of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People’s Washington Bureau.

According to Shelton, 95 percent of African American students are receiving some form of need based aid, while 75 percent are dependent on aid.

The president has increased the Pell Grant maximum once already, when he signed the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act in February. Prior to the $787 billion stimulus package, the maximum Pell Grant amount was $4,731.

“[The proposal] makes permanent the previous Pell Grant increases.” Borosage said. “The Pell Grant becomes something that students can rely on.”

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