Sponsors (66)
This bill substantially expands federal support to make college more affordable and to target aid to disadvantaged, minority-serving, and tribal institutions, but does so at significant and uncertain budgetary cost, with implementation complexity and the potential for uneven or unequal benefits.
Low-income college students will receive substantially higher and regularly indexed Pell maximums (e.g., up to $14,790 for some institutions and $7,395 for others in 2026–27), improving affordability and making aid amounts more predictable year-to-year.
Students at eligible institutions (including some HBCUs, MSIs, eligible private nonprofits, and institutions in U.S. territories and Freely Associated States) could have tuition and required fees covered by grant authority, reducing upfront college costs and student debt pressure.
Disadvantaged and first-generation students and institutions that serve them get more capacity-building support through increased TRIO and GEAR UP funding and larger annual grants for HBCUs/MSIs/TCUs, strengthening college access, readiness, and student services.
Taxpayers and the federal budget face substantially higher spending pressures to fund tuition‑elimination grants, larger Pell maxima, expanded TRIO/GEAR UP, and increased MSI/HBCU/TCU funding, creating budgetary tradeoffs and potential pressure elsewhere in the budget.
The bill leaves many program details unspecified (eligibility rules, timelines, funding levels), creating implementation uncertainty and administrative complexity for institutions, states, and students that could delay benefits.
Different Pell maximums across institution types produce unequal grant levels (students at certain institutions get much higher maximums), risking new inequities and complicating financial aid counseling and institutional budgeting.
Based on analysis of 15 sections of legislative text.
Establishes a federal-state partnership to eliminate undergraduate tuition and fees, raises Pell maximums and program funding for TRIO, GEAR UP, and HBCU/TCU/MSI grants.
Introduced May 21, 2025 by Pramila Jayapal · Last progress May 21, 2025
Creates a federal-state approach aimed at eliminating undergraduate tuition and required fees at public institutions, raises Pell Grant maximums and changes Pell eligibility rules, and increases funding authorizations for campus support programs and minority-serving institutions. Several provisions increase authorized funding for TRIO and GEAR UP, boost grant funding to HBCUs, TCUs, and other MSIs, and preserve federal obligations under the Snyder Act. Many inserted provisions are placeholders in the draft and lack full operative language, dollar amounts, or implementation details.