Dear AACC President/Institutional Advocate:
We are contacting you on pending Congressional action of the highest importance. This concerns the House of Representatives’ budget reconciliation bill, the “One Big Beautiful Bill Act,” that passed last week. If accepted by the Senate , it will have a devastating financial impact on the hundreds of thousands of community college students who receive Pell Grants.
You can play a key role in preventing these proposals from becoming law by contacting your senators and outlining how the House’s bill would undermine student success at your college. We have created a sample letter available here for you to use in communicating with your senators.
Please note: The budget reconciliation bill on which we seek your advocacy is different from the Fiscal Year (FY) 2026 appropriations process that will fund student aid programs, TRIO, institutional aid, the WIOA, the Perkins Act, the ATE program, and many others. The annual appropriations process deals with discretionary programs, whereas the budget reconciliation process deals with mandatory programs. Because the budget reconciliation process makes permanent changes to higher education funding, the bill may have an even greater impact than annual appropriations, as important as they are.
Background
The House reconciliation legislation cuts student Pell Grant eligibility in two extremely harmful respects.
- First, the bill defines a full-time courseload for the Pell Grant program as 15 semester hours. This is an increase from current law, which defines full-time enrollment as 12 semester hours. The proposed change would mean that students taking less than 15 credits will see their Pell Grant support reduced. For example, students taking 12 credits in a term will only receive 80% of the Pell Grant maximum, currently set at $7,395.
- Even worse for community college students, the bill eliminates Pell Grant eligibility for less-than-half-time students. Under the legislation, then, students taking fewer than 8 credits would not qualify for a Pell Grant.
The elimination of less than half-time students from Pell Grant eligibility as defined in the bill would cause hundreds of thousands of students to lose their grants. AACC’s estimates, derived from a broad canvassing of its membership, indicate that more than 20% of its Pell Grant recipients would lose their grants under current enrollment patterns. Tens of thousands more would have their grants reduced because of the new definition of “full-time” enrollment for Pell Grants.
At a time when policymakers are prioritizing the skills-driven, inexpensive education that community colleges provide, it seems counterintuitive that Congress would approve cuts that would disproportionately impact low-income students attending these colleges. But that is what the House bill would do.
What to Say to the Senate
In explaining to the Senate why the House’s position is so harmful, it would be extremely helpful if you could provide campus data about the impact of the House proposals. These data would include the percentage of students and dollar amounts received by students who:
- Are taking fewer than 8 credits and who would therefore lose their Pell Grants under the House’s policy.
- Are students taking 8 credits or more but fewer than 15 and would therefore have their grants reduced.
Additional points that can be made as to why the Senate should reject these cuts include:
- Community college students must integrate college into their work and family lives. Many of them simply cannot manage 15 credits as full-time students. Part-time students who are taking two courses frequently cannot take a third course, which they would now need to qualify for Pell Grants. Instead, they will lose support altogether and will face even greater barriers to matriculation. In both cases, they need federal support at least as much as other students who do not have substantial family and work responsibilities.
- Moreover, many community colleges attend part time, balancing work and school to finance their education with a combination of grant support and wages, instead of taking out student loans. Cutting off vital grant support for part-time students will force students who cannot attend more classes to borrow to make up for lost Pell Grant dollars and students who can attend more classes to borrow to make up for lost wages. 40% to 50% of all community college students currently work full time.
- The current standard of 12 credits to qualify for a full Pell Grant is appropriate. Students currently have an inherent incentive to maximize their courseloads to progress as rapidly as possible to completion and to earn higher wages. Changes to Pell Grant eligibility will not have the desired effect of increasing enrollment intensity for community college students because they are already maximizing their courseloads within their work and family obligations. Indeed, the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) estimates that only one-third of Pell recipients enrolled less than half-time would be able to increase their courseload to maintain their Pell eligibility, and only one-fifth of Pell recipients would be able to increase their courseload to maintain eligibility for the maximum grant award across all sectors of higher education. Based on enrollment trends and student demographics, the two-thirds of students who would lose their eligibility altogether are likely to be concentrated at two-year colleges.
Final Message on Context and Urgency
The massive reconciliation bill addresses several top-priority issues for community colleges. These include items that the sector has worked on for many months, including risk-sharing, Workforce Pell Grants, loan repayment, making Pell Grants tax-free, and Pell Grant funding itself. AACC is continuing its work on these issues, both in Washington, DC and with a variety of campuses and state organizations. We are hopeful for some positive outcomes in these areas. But at this time, the Pell Grant changes – impacting two million of our students – must be assigned top priority. To underscore that priority, we are asking campuses to focus on this core student success program. Again, we ask you to deliver the following message:
- The Senate must reject the House’s eligibility cuts for Pell Grant recipients, especially for the newly defined less-than-half-time students. This change would leave hundreds of thousands of community college students unable to afford their education.
Please stay in close touch with AACC as your advocate for your students and our sector on these critical issues. We are available to help you with the mechanics and related aspects of contacting your Senators and can provide background on this and related issues. AACC’s government relations team is:
David Baime, Senior Vice President for Government Relations
Jim Hermes, Associate Vice President for Government Relations
Kathryn Gimborys, Government Relations Manager
Thank you for your support. Good luck!
David Baime