Pell Grants and Wealthy Universities

This morning, Inside Higher Ed reported on a bipartisan House bill that would allow students in short (8-14- week) career training programs to receive Pell Grants. There has been some controversy over the idea–questioning, for example, whether the short-term training would pay of and whether students at for-profit programs should have access–but support for the move has been growing.

But the House’s “Bipartisan Workforce Pell Act” (which honestly, what a disappointing name: “BWPA” doesn’t spell anything

See, the expansion is potentially expensive. So the House decided that, to fund it, the bill would remove eligibility for Pell Grants from any student attending a school subject to the excise tax on university endowments (basically, any school that has an endowment of $500,000 or more per student; it applies to an estimated 50 schools). 

I’m not going to give a blow-by-blow of reasons different groups support or oppose the bill–Inside Higher Ed‘s article does an excellent job with that. I will note, though, that it faces a steep climb when it arrives at the Senate. And also, that it seems to reflect a bipartisan skepticism of the value of elite higher education. Where will this go? We’ll have to watch.

Samuel D. Brunson