Dive Summary:

• Connecting student financial aid and colleges' graduation rates could harm low-income students and the colleges that serve them, a bipartisan committee finds.
• The committee's report examines links between a college's graduation rate, the percentage of first-time students who receive Pell Grants, average test scores, and the amount of endowment per student.
• Rather than limit access to Pell Grants for students at schools with low graduation rates, the report recommends that Congress create incentives for colleges to improve graduation rates.

Dive Insight:

The report comes weeks after the same committee raised other doubts about some lawmakers'  ideas for educational finance reform. The committee urged lawmakers to take into account the rising college costs and debt loads that students face — particularly low-income students.