Hundreds of thousands of community college students are at risk of losing financial assistance under the proposed “Big, Beautiful Bill,” which would tighten eligibility requirements for Pell Grants.
Students would be required to enroll full time to maintain eligibility for the federally subsidized grants that serve as a financial lifeline for many low- to middle-income students.
The bill would increase the number of credit hours students must take each semester from 12 to 15 and could strain those who work, parent, suffer financial distress or otherwise find it difficult to increase their course loads, according to the American Association of Community Colleges.
More than 10 million people are enrolled in community colleges across the United States. Students who attend four-year colleges can also apply for Pell Grants, but community colleges are often a gateway into the higher education pipeline for low- to middle-income students.
“I don’t have any other options,” said Lakina Mabins, 41, a mother of five who worked two jobs before becoming valedictorian last month at Kennedy King College in Chicago. “I couldn’t take out a loan if I wanted to because you have to have good credit.”
Students can receive between $740 and $7,395 a year from the Pell Grant program, according to the the American Association of Community Colleges.
It costs $4,050 a year on average to attend a community college, while the average four-year, in-state tuition at a public university is $11,610 a year, the association said.
Tighter restrictions for Pell Grant eligibility are part of a sweeping congressional budget bill advanced by Republicans and aimed at cutting taxes and government spending.
House Republicans approved their version of the bill in May, and it’s now being considered by the Senate.
Student Maria Baez, who attends the Community College of Philadelphia, said she would likely have to drop out of school if the bill becomes law because she would not be able to afford it.
She said she received about $3,600 through the Pell Grant program last semester.
“I don’t even have a backup plan,” said Baez, 41, who wants to own a small marketing business one day. “But I want so badly to further my education so that I can have a career.”
Hundreds of thousands of students could be at risk of losing their grants if the One Big Beautiful Bill Act is approved, said Martha Parham, a spokeswoman for the American Association of Community Colleges.
Many students are unable to attend college full time because they have other responsibilities, she said.
“Community colleges are the on-ramp to the middle class,” Parham said, but costs can pose a strong barrier.
The first grants were awarded in 1973; the program was later named for the late Sen. Claiborne Pell, D-R.I.
The Big Beautiful Bill would also do away with subsidized federal loans, which would force college borrowers to accumulate more debt.
“It’s going to be extremely hard for people to get out of debt with these changes,” Astra Taylor, co-founder of the Debt Collective, an organization that helps people fight debt, told CNBC.
Sen. Bill Cassidy, R-La., chair of the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee, which is playing a key role in drafting the Senate’s version of the bill, was unavailable for comment this week, his office said.
Cassidy has said the entire Big Beautiful Bill would save an estimated $300 billion in government spending and lift the burden on taxpayers who subsidize college graduates’ loan payments.
But student Michael Weaver, 34, who attends Stanly Community College in Albemarle, North Carolina, on a Pell Grant, said part of the appeal of attending a two-year college is to take courses at your own pace.
“It’s a bit of a stretch for most students, and to be honest, the majority of students receiving the grant are working people who only have the option of attending school part time,” Weaver said.
Mabins, who plans to attend National Louis University in downtown Chicago this fall, considers herself a low-income student because she lives in public housing and is enrolled in the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, commonly known as food stamps.
“The government wants me off assistance, but they are creating more debt and making it harder for me to better myself,” she said. “I have goals, and in the next five years, I see myself with a master’s degree and working in my career field.”
