Mandatory Spending
Function 500 - Education, Training, Employment, and Social Services
Eliminate the Add-On to Pell Grants, Which Is Funded With Mandatory Spending
CBO periodically issues a compendium of policy options (called Options for Reducing the Deficit) covering a broad range of issues, as well as separate reports that include options for changing federal tax and spending policies in particular areas. This option appears in one of those publications. The options are derived from many sources and reflect a range of possibilities. For each option, CBO presents an estimate of its effects on the budget but makes no recommendations. Inclusion or exclusion of any particular option does not imply an endorsement or rejection by CBO.
Billions of dollars | 2025 | 2026 | 2027 | 2028 | 2029 | 2030 | 2031 | 2032 | 2033 | 2034 | 2025– | 2025– | |
Change in mandatory outlays | 0 | -1.4 | -5.2 | -5.3 | -5.3 | -5.4 | -5.4 | -5.4 | -5.5 | -5.5 | -17.2 | -44.4 | |
Change in discretionary spending | |||||||||||||
Budget authority | 0 | -0.1 | -0.1 | -0.1 | -0.1 | -0.1 | -0.1 | -0.1 | -0.1 | -0.1 | -0.4 | -0.9 | |
Outlays | 0 | * | -0.1 | -0.1 | -0.1 | -0.1 | -0.1 | -0.1 | -0.1 | -0.1 | -0.3 | -0.8 | |
This option would take effect in July 2025.
* = between -$50 million and zero.
The Federal Pell Grant Program is the largest source of federal grant aid to low-income students for undergraduate education. Eligibility for Pell grants is chiefly determined by an individual's student aid index. That amount, calculated using a formula established under federal law and information that the student provides in their Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA), measures a family's ability to contribute to the cost of the student's postsecondary education.
Funding for the Pell grant program has both discretionary and mandatory components. The maximum award funded by the discretionary component is set in each fiscal year's appropriation act. There are two mandatory components. One component, funded by the Higher Education Act, is dedicated to supporting the discretionary program. The other mandatory component is known as add-on funding, which under current law increases the maximum award by $1,060.
This option would eliminate the mandatory add-on component of Pell grant funding. The reduction in discretionary outlays is caused by a small overall decline in postsecondary enrollment and in the number of Pell grant recipients, which is attributable to the lower award amount.