Pell students much less likely to graduate—around 50%, which isn’t sufficient to pull families out of poverty

Pell Grants are one way the federal government helps people pay for college. During the 2020 to 2021 school year, eligible students can receive up to through the program, depending on where they go to school, how many classes they take and how much money their family makes. Despite this assistance, students who receive Pell Grants are less likely than other students to graduate from a four-year institution within six years: versus 59% for students who first enrolled in 2010. Six years is the timespan the federal government uses to measure graduation rates. One reason for this disparity is that Pell Grant recipients to less selective colleges and universities. than for more selective institutions. For instance, at four-year colleges with open admissions – that is, an institution where just about anyone who applies gets in – only of students who first enrolled full-time in 2011 graduated within six years. At selective schools, which admit only a quarter of their applicants, did. We are scholars who study and other . One of our recent studies finds that institutions that enroll high numbers of Pell grant recipients also have that are linked with lower graduation rates, such as having fewer students live on campus and . Our findings have implications for policymakers, taxpayers, college leaders and Pell Grant students themselves. College choice of the nation’s approximately college students received these grants in 2018. The federal government spent about on Pell Grants in that school year. More than half, , of Pell Grant recipients who are financially dependent on their parents had family incomes below $30,000 in 2015-16. But not all Pell Grant recipients are young or live with their parents. About half (53%) take care of themselves and . More degrees Congress what is now known as the Federal Pell Grant program in 1972. A primary goal was to address financial barriers to college enrollment for students from low-income families. Even with the availability of the federal Pell Grant, college enrollment rates for students from lower-income families. And, simply enrolling in college isn’t enough to lift these students out of poverty. They need to graduate. has found that increasingly, “good jobs” – defined as a job “that pays at least $35,000 for workers 25 to 44 and at least $45,000 for workers 45 to 64” – require at least a bachelor’s degree.