AACC is currently surveying community colleges to determine the impact on students of the year-round or “summer” Pell Grant. Responses from all community colleges are encouraged.
Dear Colleague,
Community college leaders from across the country lobbied vigorously to secure the year-round Pell Grant that was enacted last year. This change allows students to receive a second Pell Grant (up to half the maximum grant) in a given award year for coursework that extends beyond the credits achieved in a traditional academic year. The new Pell Grant eligibility is fully available this summer for the first time.
Early reports indicate that community colleges and their students are availing themselves of the new Pell Grant eligibility to great effect. We have heard anecdotes of both substantial increases in Pell Grants awarded in the 2018 summer months compared to previous years – which might have been expected – accompanied by unanticipated enrollment increases, which, if true, is a significant development and suggests that the new policy is having a real impact.
To gather a better perspective on the impact of this critical change, and to communicate that to policymakers and other interested parties, AACC has prepared a very brief questionnaire for selected institutions. As you will see from the questions, we are simply interested in comparing both Pell Grant awards and enrollments for the last two summer periods.
We will use survey responses to prepare a brief that will describe what the year-round Pell Grant has meant to community college students and institutions. Please be assured that no institutional level data will be released. Only aggregate information will be used in the report.
Click here to complete the survey or paste the following into your browser: http://www.cvent.com/d/tgqdc7/3B.
If you have any questions about this survey, please contact Kent Phillippe, associate vice president of research and student success, kphillippe@aacc.nche.edu. For policy related questions, contact David Baime, senior vice president for government relations and policy analysis, dbaime@aacc.nche.edu.
Thank you in advance for taking the time to provide this important information. We promise to make good use of it.
Sincerely,
Kent A. Phillippe
Associate VP, Research & Student Success
PH: 202-416-4505
Email: kphillippe@aacc.nche.edu