Max student state grants to rise with cash infusion
Pennsylvania’s college-bound students may be in for some welcome news in what’s shaping up as a rough year for family incomes: a boost in their maximum state grant award.
Funding for the program run by the Pennsylvania Higher Education Assistance Agency was expected to remain flat for 2020-2021. Instead, it will benefit from a $30 million infusion of federal Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security Act dollars as directed to the program by the state Legislature and signed into law by Gov. Tom Wolf.
It means the maximum award for Pennsylvania State Grants will be $4,525 instead of the $4,123 originally projected by PHEAA, a $402 improvement. Students are set to receive conditional notices in the
near future outlining their award for the upcoming academic year, officials said.
“The additional $30 million to the PA State Grant program will allow the maximum grant award to increase to the second highest award amount in the history of the program,” said Sen. Wayne D. Fontana, DBrookline, the PHEAA board vice chairman, in a statement Friday. “This pandemic has fundamentally changed how post secondary schools operate and continues to create uncertainty for many.”
“This will provide students with a stable source of student aid funding as they decide how to participate in higher education going into the upcoming year,” he added.
Officials said conditional award notifications will be arriving in the coming days. The added funding was part legislation covering the state’s CARES Act allotment signed into law last week by the governor.
Citing a surge in joblessness during the COVID-19 pandemic and other pressures, a number of universities have either approved or are likely to freeze tuition for the upcoming academic year, including Penn State University, the University of Pittsburgh and the 14 stateowned universities belonging to the State System of Higher Education.
In May, PHEAA officials expressed concern that a lag of 31,000 — or 9% — of families signing up for the Free Application for Federal Student Aid might mean fewer students were headed to campus because the form is required for various forms of aid, including the state grant.
Extending the May 1 deadline to file the form by two weeks appears to have cut that decrease by about twothirds, spokesman Keith New said.
The grant has approximately 126,000 recipients, officials said. The extra $30 million is on top of $326 million in commonwealth appropriation and PHEAA supplement for the program. Students must meet eligibility requirements that include demonstrated financial need.
Under a policy change, otherwise-eligible students taking distance education will maintain full grant eligibility. That had been a concern as campuses closed in March to curb the spread of COVID-19, and at least some instruction on campuses this fall will likely be delivered remotely.