Maximum Pell Grant Amount

Updated on April 1, 2024

Edited by

• Fact-checked by Marley Rose

This year’s average Pell Grant is about $4,300. Find the maximum grant you can get plus statistics about Pell Grant amounts over the years.

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Data Summary

The maximum Pell Grant amount a student can receive for the 2024-2025 school year is $7,395.^{Note Reference [1]}
Last year, the average Pell Grant amount was $4,255.^{Note Reference [2]}
When you account for inflation, the average Pell Grant amount decreased by 1% between 2011 and 2021.^{Note Reference [2], Note Reference [3]}
In 2021, roughly 99% of the highest Pell Grant amounts went to students from families making less than the U.S. median annual salary.^{Note Reference [4], Note Reference [5]}
Research indicates that Pell Grants positively influence graduation rates among low-income students.^{Note Reference [6]}
But, Pell Grant recipients also take on more student loan debt than students who don’t receive Pell Grants.^{Note Reference [7], Note Reference [8]}
The average Pell Grant amount varies across school type, income, dependency status, and state.

Pell Grants have been the largest single source of federal college aid for the past 40 years.^{Note Reference [9]} In 2021-2022 alone, over 6 million students received Pell Grants.^{Note Reference [2]}

But Pell Grants don’t pay for all of your college tuition. They typically cover less than one-third of the cost of tuition and under 20% of the full cost of college.^{Note Reference [2], Note Reference [9]}

Keep reading to find the maximum Pell Grant amount available this year and averages over time.

How Much Is a Pell Grant?

According to the Department of Education (ED), the maximum Pell Grant amount a student can receive during the 2024-2025 school year is $7,395.^{Note Reference [1]} This maximum changes every July.

Not all Pell Grant recipients receive the maximum amount. Your amount depends on the following:

The cost of the program you’re attending
Whether you attend full time or part time
Whether you attend a full year or just a semester
What the government expects your family to contribute to your education (We’ll dig into this in the financial need section of this report.)

In 2021-2022, the average Pell Grant amount was $4,255.^{Note Reference [2]}

In total, the government gave out about $25.9 billion in Pell Grants to 6.1 million students.^{Note Reference [2]}

Did You Know…

President Biden intends to double the maximum Pell Grant amount by 2029. His plan includes increasing the maximum award to $8,670 in 2023-2024.

Earlier in 2024, Biden proposed a modest increase to the 2025-2026 maximum Pell Grant Amount — just $100. His budget proposal also included two years of free tuition for some students attending minority-serving institutions.

Average Pell Grant Amount Over Time

Pell Grant amounts have increased over the years, but not enough to match rising tuition costs or even inflation in recent years.

From 2001-2021, the average Pell Grant amount increased by roughly 80%.^{Note Reference [2]} In July 2021 constant dollars (i.e., accounting for inflation), that represents a 20% increase.^{Note Reference [3]}
The average Pell Grant amount increased by almost 20% in the 10 years between 2011 and 2021 — a 1% decrease in constant dollars.^{Note Reference [2], Note Reference [3]}

Pell Grant Amounts Compared to Rising Tuition

The cost of college has skyrocketed. Pell Grant amounts haven’t kept up.^{Note Reference [2], Note Reference [10]}

In 1980, the maximum Pell Grant amount surpassed the average cost of tuition and fees by 36%.
The average Pell Grant amount covered 68% of the average cost of tuition and fees the same year.
In 2021, the average Pell Grant amount covered less than one-third of the average cost of tuition and fees (30%).
The same year, it covered about 16% of the average total cost of college, including tuition, fees, room, and board.

Do Pell Grants Help?

Pell Grants are supposed to help improve access to higher education for students and their families who can’t afford it otherwise. But the current amount might not be enough.

Research published in the American Economic Journal in 2019 analyzed the outcomes of approximately 600,000 undergraduates in 39 public Texas universities. They found:^{Note Reference [6]}

Low-income bachelor’s students who qualified for the maximum Pell Grant amount had higher four-year graduation rates and earnings than those who just missed qualifying for the full amount.
Qualifying recipients were 13% more likely to graduate in four years than students who didn’t qualify for the full Pell Grant amount.
Among grant recipients who didn’t receive the full amount, an added $1,000 in first-year grant aid was linked to a 10-16% increase in graduation rates.
The more Pell Grant aid students received, the less they had to borrow in student loan debt.

But there’s a catch. Remember how small today’s Pell Grant amounts are compared to the average tuition? Well, that can lead to a pattern where low-income students still need to borrow student loans to make up for the cost of college not covered by the Pell Grant.

According to data collected by NCES in 2020:

62% of Pell Grant recipients took out federal student loans, versus just 43% of non-Pell Grant recipients.^{Note Reference [7]}
On average, Pell Grant recipients owed roughly $3,900 more in federal student loans than students not receiving Pell Grants.^{Note Reference [8]}

Pell Grant Amounts by Financial Situation

The government decides your Pell Grant amount based on your or your family’s expected contribution to your education. This depends on your or your family’s income.

Let’s break down the average Pell Grant amount for different financial situations.

Pell Grant Amount by Income

The highest Pell Grant amounts ($6,000 or more) primarily go to students from families making less than $50,000 a year.^{Note Reference [4]}

In 2020:

Over 99% of Pell Grant amounts above $6,495 went to students from families making less than $60,000 a year or less.^{Note Reference [4]} (The average annual income in the U.S. was $58,260.^{Note Reference [5]})
In addition, roughly 68% of Pell Grant amounts of over $3,000 went to students from families making $30,000 a year or less.^{Note Reference [4]}

Pell Grant Amount by School Type

Private college tuition generally costs more than public college tuition.^{Note Reference [10]} But, private schools may offer students financial aid. In addition, qualifying students may get slightly higher Pell Grant amounts.

In 2021-2022, the average Pell Grant amount was highest at private two-year and four-year public colleges than at other school types. It was lowest at two-year public colleges.^{Note Reference [11]}

Pell Grant Amounts by School Type (2021-2022)
Institution Control and Type	Average Pell Grant Amount
Public Four-Year	$4,525
Public Two-Year	$3,626
Private, Nonprofit Four-Year	$4,475
Private, Nonprofit Two-Year	$4,892
Private, For-Profit Two and Four-Year Schools	$4,281

Source: U.S. Department of Education^{Note Reference [11]}

Pell Grant Amount by State

The federal government offers Pell Grants, not states. However, Pell Grants do differ from state to state.

The average Pell Grant amounts in 2020 were highest at colleges in:

Puerto Rico ($4,966)
Mississippi ($4,789)
New York ($4,711)

Average Pell Grant amounts were lowest at colleges in:

New Hampshire ($2,661)
Minnesota ($3,824)
Maryland ($3,863)

Table: Average Pell Grant Amount by Location of School (2021-2022)

State or District⇅	Average Pell Grant Amount⇅
Alabama	$4,439
Alaska	$3,948
Arizona	$4,188
Arkansas	$4,406
California	$4,277
Colorado	$4,140
Connecticut	$4,046
Delaware	$3,920
District of Columbia	$4,275
Florida	$4,386

…

References

Federal Pell Grants. Federal Student Aid, an Office of the U.S. Department of Education. Accessed March 2024. (back to footnote 1 in content ⤶)
Title IV Program Volume Reports: Pell End-of-Year Reports: Table 001. Federal Student Aid, an Office of the U.S. Department of Education. Accessed March 2024. (back to footnote 2 in content ⤶)
Consumer Price Index Inflation Calculator, Bureau of Labor Statistics. Comparing July 2001 to July 2021. (back to footnote 3 in content ⤶)
Title IV Program Volume Reports: Award Year Summaries: Pell End-of-Year Reports: Table 003. Federal Student Aid, an office of the U.S. Department of Education. Accessed October 2022. (back to footnote 4 in content ⤶)
May 2021 National Occupational Employment and Wage Estimates. Bureau of Labor Statistics. September 2022. (back to footnote 5 in content ⤶)
Denning, J. T., Benjamin M. M., and Lesley J. T., ProPelled: The Effects of Grants on Graduation, Earnings, and Welfare. American Economic Journal: Applied Economics, 11 (3): 193-224. July 2019. Access the ProPelled report’s full working text on the National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER) website. (back to footnote 6 in content ⤶)
Table: Percentage of Undergrads Borrowing Federal Student Loans by Federal Pell grant. U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, National Postsecondary Student Aid Study 2020: Undergraduates (NCES, NPSAS 20:UG). Accessed March 2024. (back to footnote 7 in content ⤶)
Table: Cumulative Federal Loan Amount Owed by Federal Pell Grant. U.S. Department of Education, NCES, NPSAS 20:UG. Accessed March 2024. (back to footnote 8 in content ⤶)
Protopsaltis, S., Parrot, S., Pell Grants — a Key Tool for Expanding College Access and Economic Opportunity — Need Strengthening, Not Cuts. Center on Budget and Policy Priorities. July 2017. (back to footnote 9 in content ⤶)
Table 330.10 Average undergraduate tuition, fees, room, and board rates charged for full-time students in degree-granting postsecondary institutions, by level and control of institution: Selected years, 1963-64 through 2022-23. National Center for Education Statistics. December 2023. (back to footnote 10 in content ⤶)
Title IV Program Volume Reports: Award Year Summaries: Pell End-of-Year Reports: Table 019. Federal Student Aid, an office of the U.S. Department of Education. Accessed March 2024. (back to footnote 11 in content ⤶)
Title IV Program Volume Reports: Award Year Summaries: Pell End-of-Year Reports: Table 021. Federal Student Aid, an office of the U.S. Department of Education. Accessed March 2024. (back to footnote 12 in content ⤶)