Healey touts state tuition savings, criticizes federal cuts to Pell Grants

Boston Globe

16 hours ago

Overall, MASSGrant Plus Expansion program saved more than 34,000 Massachusetts students an estimated $110 million in the 2023-2024 academic year, the statement said.
More than 7,730 middle income students saved an average of $3,856 each, according to data from the state Department of Higher Education, the statement said.
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In the same statement, Healey urged the US Senate to reject Pell Grant cuts included in the federal budget reconciliation bill recently passed by Republicans in the U.S. House and supported by President Trump.
The proposed cuts and eligibility restrictions would results in 42,000 Massachusetts students at public institutions losing $57 million in funding each year, according to Healey's statement said.
'Massachusetts is home to the best schools in the country, but we need to make sure that they are affordable for all of our students,' Healey's statement said. 'That's why I took action to increase financial aid at our public colleges and universities, which has already lowered costs for tens of thousands of students.'
The drastic cuts proposed to the Pell Grant program would 'roll back the progress we have made and increase costs,' Healey said.
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'This is bad for our students and bad for our economy, as it would hold back our next generation of workers from being able to afford to go to school,' she said.
Healey announced $62 million in new state funding to expand the MASSGrant program during a ceremony at Salem State University in November 2023.
The new funding covered the full costs of tuition and mandatory instructional fees for Pell Grant-eligible students, and as much as half for middle-income students.
Middle-income students are those whose families earn between $73,000 and $100,000 annually in adjusted gross income.
The program was retroactive to the start of the fall 2023 semester for Massachusetts students at the states public institutions, including its 15 community colleges, nine state universities, and four University of Massachusetts undergraduate campuses.
Funding for the expansion of the program also drew on $84 million Healey and the legislature had set earmarked for financial aid expansion in the FY24 budget, Healey's office said at the time.
'The dramatic enrollment increases our community colleges have seen over the last two years make it clear that free community college and expanded financial aid is a game changer for students in Massachusetts,' Luis Pedraja, chair of the Community College Council of Presidents, and president of Quinsigamond Community College said in the statement.
'The proposed Pell eligibility changes would be devastating to our students' ability to afford higher education and the community college presidents in Massachusetts urge the Senate to reject this ill-advised change,' Pedraja said.
Education Secretary Patrick Tutwiler said he feared the impacts proposed cuts could have on students who struggle to afford college.
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'Low-income students deserve to go to college just as much as their higher income peers, and these changes are going to take us backwards – increasing dropout rates and leaving students saddled with more debt and no degree," Tutwiler said in the statement.
Tonya Alanez can be reached at