- A total of 9.9 million students were eligible for Pell Grants in 2024-25 – 6% more than the prior year, according to a new report from the Government Accountability Office, or GAO. The report also found that 31% more students were eligible for the maximum award of $7,395 that year, and that much of the rise in eligibility rates took place for students with household incomes of $60,001-$125,000.
- Taking an even closer look, the GAO said its analysis suggests that the “most substantial change” was the increase in eligible students in the household income ranges between $40,001 and $80,000, which it says “more than doubled” in 2024–25 compared with the prior year.
- GAO found that roughly 570,000 more students were eligible for Pell Grants after the Department of Education implemented the simplified version of the Free Application for Federal Student Aid, or FAFSA. The report says the increases in Pell eligibility that GAO found came in spite of the fact that fewer students completed their FAFSAs for 2024-2025. The agency had previously reported that delays and barriers associated with the new FAFSA rollout “contributed to fewer students submitting a FAFSA’ for the 2024–25 academic year.
The bigger picture:
The findings of the GAO report drew praise from Congressman Bobby Scott, a Democrat from Virginia who ushered in the passage of the FAFSA Simplification Act, which he called “an important first step to expand access for students and families.”
EdTrust, a Washington, D.C.-based organization that advocates for students of modest economic means, recently called on states to provide more funding to implement “universal FAFSA policies” that make filling out the form more of a standardized and routine occurrence in high school.
“In 2020, Congress took decisive action to reform the financial aid process and expand access to higher education for students across the country,” Scott said in a statement. “Today’s report confirms that those reforms worked. Pell Grants break down economic barriers and open pathways to higher education for those who need it most.”
