# Plain Language Summary: Pell to Grad Act

Right now, federal Pell Grants—money that helps low-income students pay for college—can only be used for undergraduate education. Once you finish your bachelor's degree, you're done getting Pell Grant money, even if you want to go to graduate school. This bill changes that by allowing some students to use Pell Grants to help pay for graduate programs.

The key catch is that you can only get Pell Grants for graduate school if you didn't use up all your eligibility during your undergraduate years. Specifically, you have to have received Pell Grants for fewer than 16 semesters (about 5 and a half years) during your bachelor's degree. If you took longer to finish your undergraduate degree and used up more of your grant eligibility, you wouldn't qualify for this new graduate school benefit. The bill also increases the total time limit for receiving Pell Grants from 12 semesters to 16 semesters overall, giving students more time to complete their education.

This mainly affects lower-income students who are considering graduate school but might not have the money to pay for it. If you finished your bachelor's degree in four years or less while receiving Pell Grants, you could potentially use remaining grant money to help pay for a master's degree or other graduate programs. The bill essentially extends the safety net of federal grant money to help more low-income students reach higher levels of education, though it's designed to help those who didn't need the full undergraduate period to complete their degree.

Pell to Grad Act

Stevens, Haley M.

Pell to Grad Act This bill raises from 12 to 16 the total number of semesters during which a student may receive a Pell Grant. It also allows income-eligible graduate students who received Pell Grants during their undergraduate education to utilize their remaining Pell Grant eligibility toward their first graduate degree, subject to this 16-semester duration limit. Currently, Pell Grants are available only to undergraduate students, subject to the 12-semester duration limit.