lately it seems that there is nothing the Senate can agree on. We argue on partisan lines over every issue imaginable. But I know of at least one issue that would bring every Member of the Senate to the floor in agreement: Pell grants. This is a program designed to help poor students get the education they need to give themselves and their families a better future. Millions of Americans have seen the benefits of the Federal investment in Pell grants first hand. Over the past 2 years, the Congress has provided significant increases in funding to the Pell grant program. We have raised the maximum Pell grant to an all time high of $5,550 and we set a course so the grants will continue to rise reaching almost $6,000 in 2017. I have supported those increases. The recent expansion of the Pell grant program is essential for our economic recovery as Americans are returning to college to learn new skills. But the investment does not come without a cost.
Editor's note · Context
Senator Durbin discusses the importance and funding of Pell grants for students.
Share
More from Dick Durbin
Our state’s top-notch rail system keeps our economy moving while allowing Illinoisans to travel from Chicago to Carbondale.
Through these hearings, the Department of Justice’s (DOJ) Executive Office for Immigration Review (EOIR) is intentionally overcrowding dockets with little notice to immigrants in an effort to manufacture significant numbers of removal…
It is families who will suffer, especially the sickest Americans, like those with mental health and substance use disorders, cancer, and diabetes, who most urgently need the health care Medicaid provides.
I’m glad these borrowers, after years and years of waiting, will finally get the relief they’re entitled to.





