Obama Administration Seeks Pell Grant Expansion

By Staff Writer | Jan 20, 2016 07:31 PM EST

The Obama Administration is seeking to widen up the horizon of the federal Pell grant to help more students finish their college degrees. The said Pell grant will enable to fund students for them to attend their respective classes all-year round and reward them for taking more credits.

According to Yahoo! News, two new proposals have been announced by the Education Department on  Tuesday, January 19. The said proposals stipulate the expansion of the education budget from $29 billion to an additional $2 billion for the new fiscal year. This expansion is said to be a part of President Barack Obama's proposal that is set to be presented next month.

One proposal entitled Pell for Accelerated Completion will support low-income student earn their Pell money for a third trimester in the academic calendar as to, many wear out their eligibility after the two semesters, Seattle Times shared. In line with this, the said proposal will give students who are taking at least 15 credits per semester a chance to have a $300 bonus.

According to the site, it will prioritize students who are low-income and it does not have to be paid in return.

In a report by Register Herald, at least eighty percent (80%) of the wealthiest high school students stay in the academe and finish their higher education on time faster than those students who have low-income and can barely afford to pay tuition fees. The said education proposal aims to change this through helping students graduate by providing them enough funds to do so.

President Barack Obama is slated to fully present the said proposal next month, including the additional detailed policies, provisions and regulations of the Pell grant for students.

In the recent year, the US government has already rewarded $28.7 billion in Pell grants to almost 8.3 million students.

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