Dive Brief:

• The new spending bill hammered out by Congressional leaders to avoid a government shutdown would restore the ability for students in community college career programs to receive federal aid, even without a high school diploma.
• Under the spending proposal, $303 million would be cut from the Pell Grant program’s surplus this year, which critics say will make it more difficult to make up a predicted shortfall in coming years, Inside Higher Ed reported.
• The bill also boosts the maximum Pell Grant award to $5,830 next year, up $100.

Dive Insight:

The Pell Grant surplus would be tapped, in part, to fund $230.9 million more for the U.S. Department of Education’s budget for loan servicing, paying not-for-profit student loan debt collectors. Also proposed: a $15 million increase to the Federal Work Study program, to $989.7 million; an $8.7 million increase, to $530 million, for funding to higher ed institutions with high percentages of minority and low-income students; and a $15 million cut to the “First in the World” program that promoted innovation in higher education, to $60 million. The spending bill also fails to mention the Federal Perkins Loan program, which can offer loans of up to $5,500 per year to undergraduate or $8,000 per year for graduate or professional students with exceptional financial need. That means the Perkins program would expire if Congress fails to reauthorize it next year, according to the New America Foundation.