But the report argues that this has more to do with what schools the students go to than any disadvantage springing from their socioeconomic status.
Education Trust, a Washington-based education advocacy organization, collected the graduation rate of Pell grant recipients from 1,149 of public and nonprofit four-year colleges and university—a sample covering nearly 85 percent of first-time, full-time Pell students. The vast majority of these grants, of up to $5,775 per year, go to students from families earning less than $40,000 a year.
The study found that Pell recipients had a six-year graduation rate of 51 percent in 2013 compared to 65 percent for non-Pell students.
But the study found that the average was being dragged down by institutions from which few students ever graduate. If they are taken out of the sample, the difference between the percentage of Pell students and other students who graduate narrows to less than 6 percent, it says.
“Even if all institutional-level gaps in completion between Pell and non-Pell students were eliminated, there would still be a considerable national gap because too many Pell students attend institutions where few students of any sort graduate.”
Pell grants are the U.S. Department of Education’s largest single expenditure, making up $31.5 billion of its budget in 2013-14. Because of a quirk in federal policy, there is very little accountability for this money, however; schools must provide their Pell student graduation rates to any prospective applicant who asks, but are not required to report this information to the Department of Education.
