Federal funding for Pell Grants and the number of awards given fell sharply between fiscal years 2011–12 and 2021–22. Over the same period, Black student enrollment in public colleges and universities in the United States dropped by nearly half a million. A new report from the University of Alabama’s Education Policy Center for the Southern Education Foundation suggests these declines are closely linked.The analysis traced trends in Pell Grant funding over decades and highlighted the disproportionate impact on rural and majority-Black public institutions in the South. Researchers drew on data from the Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System and 47 Pell Grant end-of-year reports from the US Department of Education.
Years of growth followed by significant cuts
Between 2007–08 and 2011–12, Pell funding more than doubled, from $14.7 billion to $33.6 billion, while the number of awards increased from 5.5 million to 9.4 million. Community colleges, regional and flagship universities, and historically Black colleges and universities (HBCUs) recorded record-high enrollments and Pell recipients during this period. The 2009 American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, which required states to maintain funding for higher education during the Great Recession, played a key role in stabilising tuition and extending the reach of Pell Grants.But after these funds ended, Congress did not provide additional discretionary support, and in 2012, it introduced more restrictive eligibility requirements. States also reduced higher education appropriations. Federal funding for Pell Grants dropped to $25.8 billion between 2011–12 and 2021–22, and the number of awards fell by more than a third to 6.2 million.F. King Alexander, professor of educational leadership and policy at Florida Gulf Coast University and co-author of the report, told Inside Higher Ed, “Millions fewer students received Pell Grants in recent years compared to a decade ago, but nobody’s talking about this.”The report also noted that the maximum Pell Grant has not kept pace with rising college costs. In fiscal year 2021–22, the average award was $4,685, compared with the maximum of $6,495 — insufficient to cover tuition and fees at the average full-time community college in Alabama.
Black students bear the brunt
While the researchers stopped short of claiming a direct causal link between Pell Grant reductions and Black student enrollment, the declines align closely. Between 2011–12 and 2021–22, the number of Black students fell by 487,109, with 58 per cent of that decline occurring in Southern states. The region educates more than half of the country’s Black college students, and 218 of the nation’s 279 majority-Black institutions are located in the South, Inside Higher Ed reports.Southern colleges and universities enrolled 23 per cent fewer Pell recipients in 2021–22 compared to a decade earlier, and overall student enrollment fell by 521,241. Nearly 25 per cent less Pell funding flowed to Southern institutions, affecting 16 states where Black student enrollment dropped. Noel Keeney, graduate research assistant and director of data analytics at the University of Alabama’s Education Policy Center, told Inside Higher Ed, “As Black students and low-income students receive less Pell aid, they’ll either not enroll altogether or they won’t finish because they don’t have the funds to actually get through the whole program.”
The South’s underresourced colleges struggle
The report emphasised that the South’s rural, suburban and urban public community colleges were particularly vulnerable. Overall enrolment fell 19 per cent, while Black student enrollment dropped nearly 30 per cent. Community colleges with Black majorities, many located in rural areas, saw enrolment fall by 55 per cent. These institutions also experienced reductions of at least a third of their Pell funding between 2011–12 and 2021–22.Limited state-based, need-focused aid compounds the problem. Jim Purcell, executive director of the Alabama Commission on Higher Education, explained to Inside Higher Ed that Southern states historically offered more merit-based scholarships than need-based aid. “When federal Pell funds fluctuate, underresourced institutions are exposed,” he said.Albany State University, a Georgia HBCU, illustrates the impact. After Congress imposed new eligibility requirements in 2012, the university lost more than 1,000 students over five consecutive years. Arthur N. Dunning, president of Albany State from 2013 to 2018, reported a $2.5 million reduction in tuition and fee revenue, which forced cuts to faculty and student support services, according to Insider Higher Ed.
Stabilising Pell and supporting Southern colleges
The report recommends making Pell funding fully mandatory rather than reliant on discretionary budgets, restoring funding levels to those of 2011–12 adjusted for inflation, and encouraging state lawmakers to expand need-based aid. Stephen G. Katsinas, director of the Education Policy Center, told Inside Higher Ed, “Pell Grants are the root of a middle-class America and a middle-class Black America. America’s HBCUs and the public institutions in the South stimulate academic and intellectual development. They need and deserve support.”The data show that federal Pell funding is more than just a line item in the budget, it is a cornerstone of educational opportunity for Black students and low-income learners in the South. Cuts to these grants have ripple effects, shaping who can afford college and which institutions can survive. For millions of Southern Black students, the promise of upward mobility is vanishing.
