Katharine Meyer

States play a central role in financing higher education through direct institutional support and student financial aid. While the federal Pell Grant remains the cornerstone of aid for low‑income students, its “purchasing power” has eroded, failing to keep up with inflation and covering a smaller share of posted total cost of attendance over the past two decades. State grants increasingly fill this gap. About a fifth of college students receive state aid.

States play a central role in financing higher education through direct institutional support and student financial aid. While the federal Pell Grant remains the cornerstone of aid for low‑income students, its “purchasing power” has eroded, failing to keep up with inflation and covering a smaller share of posted total cost of attendance over the past two decades. State grants increasingly fill this gap. About a fifth of college students receive state aid.

Editor's note: This is part of the “Why we have and need a US Department of Education” series, which seeks to examine the role of the U.S. Department of Education at a time when the president of the United States has called for the Department’s demise. It considers what the Department does to shape education policy and practice in the United States. It also addresses misconceptions about the Department’s role and the president’s authority to dismantle it.