Federal lawmakers want to make changes to the Pell Grant, the longstanding federal program that helps students and families with low income pay for college. 

The government currently calculates the amount students receive based on their financial need and classes they intend to take. Unlike student loans, Pell Grants do not need to be paid back. 

President Donald Trump’s budget plan calls for dropping the maximum annual Pell Grant award students could receive from $7,395 to $5,710 beginning in the 2026-27 school year.  

U.S. House lawmakers, meanwhile, want to make changes to the program’s eligibility rules. Their proposal calls for increasing the number of credit hours students need to take to receive even a portion of the award. Their Senate colleagues do not include these Pell Grant changes in their plans.

Both chambers, along with the White House, will eventually need to negotiate if any changes to the program make it into the final budget. 

The Trump administration said lessening the maximum amount of the Pell award will help with what they call the program’s “growing funding shortfall created by past congressional decisions.” Changing the eligibility definitions could save an estimated $7.1 billion over the next decade, according to the non-partisan Congressional Budget Office. 

But critics and students argue making these types of changes could hurt Americans with low incomes from earning a degree or certificate. 

“It’s just another display that they [lawmakers] don’t want working-class people in higher education,” Cleveland State University student and Pell Grant recipient Josie Mayle told Signal Ohio. 

Kent State, Tri-C Pell Grant recipients would see changes under new proposed rules

About 97,000 Ohio students could lose some portion or all of their Pell Grant award under the House’s plan, according to one estimate. Part-time students, including those who juggle working and/or parenting while attending classes, could be affected the most by program changes. 

That could have a big impact on Cuyahoga Community College, where about 4,800 students – or 62% of their Pell Grant recipients – took fewer than 15 credits during the last school year. College officials said their students could lose approximately $2.4 million in Pell Grant funding.

“The proposed changes would disproportionately impact these students and create additional barriers to enrollment, persistence and completion,” Angela Johnson, Tri-C’s vice president of enrollment management, said in a statement to Signal Ohio. 

Across Kent State University’s eight campuses, nearly 10,700 students received a Pell Grant during the 2024-25 school year, according to data university officials provided to Signal Ohio. 

About 17.5% of them, or 1,869 students, took fewer than 15 total credits over that entire year. Under the House’s proposal, this group would now lose their Pell Grant eligibility entirely. 

Nearly a third of additional recipients, or roughly 2,900 students, attempted between 24 and 29 credits that year. The government currently considers that group to be full-time.

But, under the House plan, that would change. Those students would no longer qualify for the maximum award. Lawmakers want to redefine full-time status to those taking at least 30 credit hours each year (or 15 per semester).  

Kent State officials said their Pell Grant recipients received an average of $5,357. That can go far at a university like Kent State. The in-state tuition sticker price for incoming students clocks in at $13,466 for its Kent campus and $7,606 for regional campuses. Most students, though, don’t pay the full listed amount.   

“If I did not have that [Pell Grant], I genuinely would not have been able to go to Kent State,” recipient and recent graduate Nica Delgado said in an interview. 

Working students face challenges 

About 40% of Cleveland State undergraduate students got a Pell Grant in the 2022-23 school year, according to federal data. The university declined to respond to Signal Ohio’s request for more information about what that breakdown looks like. 

Cleveland State student Mayle said her academic career hasn’t been without hurdles. The 21-year-old biology major took a semester off to work. At other times, she said, she’s gone between part- and full-time status in order to work more to pay for her classes. 

Now, she caps her class schedule at 13 to 15 credits each semester to balance school and work. She said she’ll have to work more if her Pell Grant funding eventually decreases. It’s a Catch 22, though. Working more may mean she has less time for a full slate of classes, therefore impacting her eligibility for the program at all under these proposals. 

Taking more classes to hit the potential new requirements “is just not feasible for so many working students, myself included,” she said.

Nearly 200 national groups urge lawmakers not to make Pell Grant changes 

Both Mayle and Kent State grad Delgado are members of the Ohio Student Association. The student organizing group is one of nearly 200 national groups that signed a letter issued last week urging lawmakers to reconsider any potential cuts. 

“Fully funding the Pell Grant program is one of the smartest, most targeted investments lawmakers can make to fuel economic growth,” the letter said. “By making increases to targeted grant aid, lawmakers will reduce student loan borrowing, increase graduation rates, and improve labor market outcomes.” 

Other signees included the American Council on Education and the American Association of Community Colleges. Combined, those two groups count nearly every public and private college in the state as a member. 

Ten Ohio-based groups signed the letter. They include organizations that help students get to and stay in college such as College Now Greater Cleveland and I Know I Can in Columbus.