12.09.21

On Senate Floor, Durbin Praises Build Back Better Expansion Of Pell Grant Program, Slams For-Profit College Taking Advantage Of Program

WASHINGTON – In a speech on the Senate floor, U.S. Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL) highlighted how the Build Back Better Act will support college students by increasing the maximum Pell grant award by $550. The historic proposal would expand Pell grants and other forms of federal student aid to DACA students and help five million low-income students earn college degrees to build a better, more prosperous future.

“It [Pell Grant program] was created in 1972 – almost 50 years ago. At the time, the Pell grants were worth more than 75 percent of the average cost of attending a four-year public college or university, tuition, fees, and living expenses…Today, the Pell grant covers less than 30 percent,” said Durbin. “What makes up the difference? Student debt makes up the difference.”

Durbin continued by calling out the for-profit college industry for historically siphoning money from the Pell Grant program by luring students in with deceptive and false advertising, only to load them with unsurmountable debt and a degree that employers often do not recognize. Under the Build Back Better Act’s proposal, new safeguards would be added to the Pell Grant program to prohibit the $550 increase in Pell grant awards from being used at for-profit colleges. 

“Adding protections in the Build Back Better Act is not about Congress punishing students. The for-profit college industry is doing that quite well themselves. This is about protecting traditionally underserved, marginalized students and prevent taxpayer dollars from being wasted on these miserable institutions,” Durbin concluded.

Video of Durbin’s floor speech is available here.

Audio of Durbin’s floor speech is available here.

Footage of Durbin’s floor speech is available here for TV Stations.

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