New Legislation Means Boost in Pell Grants

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New Legislation Means Boost in Pell Grants
by Beth Fertig

NEW YORK, NY April 02, 2010 —Pell grants for college are worth more now that President Barack Obama has signed the Health Care and Education Affordability Reconciliation Act. The grants are worth more than $5,500 this fall. That's an increase of $200 from this year.

At the State University of New York in Binghamton, where tuition, room and board are now more than $20,000 dollars a year, financial services director Dennis Chavez says that extra aid will definitely help.

"One of the things we've been seeing more and more is the burden for paying for college is being done on the backs of students, in terms of student loans or parent loans," Chavez says.

Chavez says about 25 percent of Binghamton's undergrads get Pell grants. Extra money for the grants will be funded through savings on college loans, through a switch to direct federal lending.