JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — President Bush said Friday that his new budget would call for raising the maximum Pell Grant by $100 annually over the next five years, a $15-billion proposal that would increase the grants for low-income college students to $4,550 a year.
The president also said that the budget he would submit Feb. 7 would close a $4.3-billion shortfall in the Pell Grant program over the course of a decade.
He made the announcement during an hour-long "conversation on higher education and job training" at Florida Community College here.
Bush said funds for his two-part Pell initiative, totaling $19.3 billion over 10 years, would come from eliminating "excessive subsidies" to lenders and cutting other unnecessary costs in federal student loan programs.
"We've got a unique way of saving money, and that saved money from the administration of the student loan program will be plowed into the Pell Grant program," he said.
But the absence of details drew cautionary words from congressional Democrats.
"I welcome the president's new proposal, but urge America's families with kids applying to college to not count their chickens before they hatch," said Sen. Edward M. Kennedy (D-Mass.), who has worked with Bush on past education reforms.
He noted that Bush, as a presidential candidate in 2000, had promised to raise the maximum amount of Pell Grants to $5,100.
"We've been down this road before," Kennedy said. "President Bush has walked away from all his promises to raise Pell Grants since his first year in office."
The American Council on Education, the major coordinating body for U.S. institutions of higher education, said it was encouraged by Bush's proposal, calling it "extraordinary news."
"While we now await the details below the headlines, it is important to recognize the historic commitment to need-based federal student aid that President Bush has made today," said David Ward, the group's president, in a written statement.
The maximum grant has been at $4,050 for the last three years. Late last year, the Bush administration drew criticism from higher education advocates for making changes to the financial aid formula, with congressional approval, that could result in at least 80,000 students losing aid and many others receiving reduced grants.
The program has been under financial pressures because of a rise in the number of eligible students. About 5.3 million students receive Pell Grants.
