Federal Financial Aid

The Issue

Federal financial aid is a primary issue for the American Council on Education (ACE) and the higher education association community, reflecting the vital role it plays for students, families, campuses and the nation as a whole. Federal aid programs, such as Pell Grants, Federal Work-Study, and Stafford Loans, encompass a variety of processes and broader issues, including congressional appropriations, access, student debt load, and streamlined application and repayment processes. ACE is at the forefront in working with Congress on policies that maximize federal support for all students, with a particular focus on low-income and historically underserved communities.

Our Work

Letters, Bill Summaries, and More

December 7, 2023

Talking Points: Bipartisan Workforce Pell Act

Outlining concerns with the Bipartisan Workforce Pell Act (H.R. 6585), a bill intended to provide undergraduate students with the opportunity to use the Pell Grant for short-term programs.

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December 7, 2023

Summary: The Bipartisan Workforce Pell Act

Summary of the Bipartisan Workforce Pell Act (H.R. 6585), a bill intended to provide undergraduate students with the opportunity to use the Pell Grant for short-term programs.

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November 17, 2023

Letter to ED on Implementation of the Updated FAFSA

On behalf of six other higher education associations, ACE urged the Department of Education to deepen its communication with the higher education community to ensure successful implementation of the new Free Application for Federal Student Aid.

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October 13, 2023

Letter to ED on FAFSA Release Date

ACE, along with 11 other higher education organizations, wrote to the Department of Education urging officials to announce the date on which the updated Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) will be available.

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July 28, 2023

Letter on House FY 2024 Labor-HHS-Education Appropriations Bill

ACE, on behalf of of 29 other higher education organizations, wrote to leaders of the House Appropriations Committee with concerns about proposed cuts for higher education programs in the House's Labor-HHS-Education funding bill for FY 2024.

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June 8, 2023

Request for a Comprehsensive Examination of the New FAFSA Need Analysis

Letter from ACE and 16 other higher education groups to Education Secretary Miguel Cardona requesting a comprehensive examination of how the new FAFSA need analysis formula will impact students and families

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May 5, 2023

Letter of Support for the Tax-Free Pell Grant Act

Letter to Reps. Lloyd Doggett (D-TX) and Mike Kelly (R-PA) strongly endorsing the Tax-Free Pell Grant Act, which would repeal the taxability of Pell Grants and help hundreds of thousands of students access the American Opportunity Tax Credit.

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October 28, 2022

Letter to Congress in Support of the Tax-Free Pell Grant Act

ACE, on behalf of 15 other higher education organizations, sent this letter to the leaders of the House Ways and Means Committee and the Senate Finance Committee urging them to include the Tax-Free Pell Grant Act in any lame-duck tax legislation.

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August 26, 2022

Comments to the Education Department on Title IV NPRM

Comments from ACE and 16 other associations to the Department of Education in response to the notice of proposed rulemaking regarding Title IV of the Higher Education Act.

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August 18, 2022

Letter to Education Department Urging Extension of PSLF Waiver

As the Oct. 31 deadline for the extension of the Public Service Loan Forgiveness (PSLF) waiver nears, ACE and six other higher education groups urge Secretary Miguel Cardona to extend the waiver in order to better align with proposed regulatory changes.

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August 12, 2022

Comments to the Education Department on Student Loan Forgiveness NPRM

ACE and 23 other associations sent these comments to the Department of Education in response to the notice of proposed rulemaking regarding targeted student loan forgiveness.

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May 17, 2022

Facts in Hand: Who Is Borrowing for College?

Data show that undergraduate student borrowing patterns are similar across sectors, an indicator that higher education is trying to minimize undergraduate debt. Graduate student borrowing data, however, offer a note of caution.

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April 19, 2022

Letter to Appropriations Subcommittees on Education Funding Priorities for FY 2023

Letter from the Student Aid Alliance to House and Senate Labor-HHS-Education Appropriations subcommittees requesting that student aid remains a high priority in the funding bill for FY 2023.

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March 30, 2022

Paying for College

Understanding how students pay for college is useful for addressing barriers to financing higher education. Learn more about average tuition prices and federal aid for undergraduate students.

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February 3, 2022

Letter to Congress on Doubling the Pell Grant

Along with 188 partner organizations, ACE sent this letter to congressional leaders yesterday asking them to consider doubling the maximum Pell Grant as they work toward a spending agreement for FY 2022.

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January 13, 2022

2021 Fall Term Pulse Point Survey of College and University Presidents, Part III

In this survey, 91 presidents identified their most pressing current concerns and shared their views on changing student demographics, as well as the value of Pell Grants in providing low- and moderate-income students access to higher education.

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November 17, 2021

Letter to the Department of Education on Student Loan Repayment Transition

ACE and the other higher education associations write to Secretary Cardona urging ED to share the full details of what is planning to do to help students and colleges during the transition to resuming student loan repayments.

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October 27, 2021

Letter to Congress on Higher Education Priorities in the Build Back Better Plan

ACE and a coalition of higher education organizations urge House and Senate leadership to preserve critical investments in college affordability and completion in the final Build Back Better package.

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October 20, 2021

Letter to Congress in Support of the Higher Education Provisions in the Build Back Better Act

Letter to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer urging Congress to retain the level of higher education funding and key tax provisions provided in the Build Back Better Act passed by the House Budget Committee.

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September 23, 2021

Letter to House Leadership on Repealing Pell Grant Taxability

Letter from ACE and other assocations to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy urging them to repeal the taxability of Pell Grants in the FY 2022 budget reconciliation process.

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September 22, 2021

Letter to the Senate Finance Committee on Repealing Pell Grant Taxability

ACE President Ted Mitchell writes to urge members of the Senate Finance Committee to repeal the taxability of Pell Grants in the FY 2022 budget reconciliation process.

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Latest News

November 20, 2023

ACE, Groups Urge FSA to Work With the Higher Education Community to Ensure Smooth Transition to New FAFSA

The Education Department has announced a timeline for its long-awaited overhaul of the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA), which aims to simplify the application process and broaden access to financial aid.

November 16, 2023

The Pre-Thanksgiving Policy Roundup

Hosts Jon Fansmith and Sarah Spreitzer are joined by their ACE colleague Steven Bloom to discuss how the never-ending threats of a government shutdown are impacting funding legislation for higher education.

October 19, 2023

dotEDU Live: Chaos in Congress and the Higher Ed Agenda

Hosts Jon Fansmith and Sarah Spreitzer discuss the House speaker race and its implications for the packed agenda—such as the ongoing spending battle—in Congress, as well as its impact on the Biden administration.

October 2, 2023

Hundreds of Schools Already Committed to College Cost Transparency Initiative

More than 400 schools have already signed up for the College Cost Transparency Initiative, committing to effectively and transparently communicating student aid offers to students and their families.

October 2, 2023

Student Aid Alliance Urges Biden Administration to Support Federal Student Aid

Members of the Student Aid Alliance sent a letter Sept. 29 to the Department of Education and Office of Management and Budget urging them to provide robust support for federal student aid in the fiscal year 2025 budget proposal.

September 21, 2023

dotEDU Live: What’s on the Policy Agenda for Higher Ed This Fall?

A government shutdown is looming on the horizon, and ACE’s Jon Fansmith and Sarah Spreitzer are back to answer your questions and break down what this means for the higher education community, as well as other issues on this fall’s policy agenda.

September 8, 2023

Federal Budget Uncertainty Casts Doubt on the Fate of Federal Work-Study, Funding for Other Higher Ed Programs

After a monthlong break, the Senate and House returned to work with a looming deadline to fund the federal government for the upcoming fiscal year by Sept. 30.

August 7, 2023

House and Senate Far Apart on Education Funding for Fiscal Year That Begins Oct. 1

The Senate Committee on Appropriations voted 26 to 2 July 27 to approve the FY 2024 Labor-HHS-Education bill, increasing discretionary funds for the Department of Education by about $370 million over the current fiscal year to $79.6 billion.

July 17, 2023

House Spending Bill Eliminates Federal Work-Study and SEOG Grants, Makes Other Drastic Cuts to Higher Ed Programs

The House Appropriations Committee last week released the text of the bill that funds federal education programs for FY 2024, revealing drastic cuts to a number of key higher education programs for the fiscal year that begins Oct. 1.

July 13, 2023

Biden’s Loan Forgiveness Program Fails Supreme Court Test. What Now?

Hosts Jon Fansmith and Sarah Spreitzer are once again joined by NASFAA president Justin Draeger to talk about financial aid in the wake of the Supreme Court's decisions striking down race-conscious admissions and student loan forgiveness.

June 30, 2023

Double Pell Alliance Urges Congress to Preserve Pell Grant Surplus

Members of the Double Pell Alliance sent a letter June 29 to the leadership of the House and Senate appropriations committees urging them to preserve the surplus of funding in the Pell Grant program.

June 1, 2023

dotEDU Live: Gainful Employment Rules 3.0, Student Loan Payments Return

Hosts Jon Fansmith and Sarah Spreitzer are joined by Emmanual Guillory, ACE’s newest government relations staffer, to discuss the ongoing saga of the Education Department’s gainful employment rules.

February 17, 2023

dotEDU Live: New Rules from ED, Culture War Rhetoric Ramps Up, the End of the COVID Emergency, More

In this live episode, hosts Jon Fansmith and Sarah Spreitzer take audience questions on a range of topics, from the Education Department moving quickly on new regulations to the House hearing on the “crisis” in American education to ChatGPT.

February 6, 2023

COVID State of Emergency Ends in May; Federal Pandemic Aid was Key to Supporting Students

The Biden administration announced last week that it will end the COVID-19 national and public health emergencies on May 11.

December 21, 2022

The Year in Higher Education Policy

Hosts Jon Fansmith and Sarah Spreitzer are joined by ACE Senior Vice President Terry Hartle to discuss the federal policy developments in 2022 that impacted students and higher education institutions.

December 8, 2022

States Step in as Federal Action on Dreamers Goes Nowhere

Political activist Tyler Montague and ACE’s Derrick Anderson visit the podcast to talk about Arizona’s newly passed Proposition 308, which gives in-state tuition for non-citizen residents of the state.

December 2, 2022

ACE, Higher Ed Groups Launch Task Force to Improve Student Aid Offers and Price Transparency

ACE this week joined the National Association of Student Financial Aid Administrators, the National Association for College Admission Counseling, and seven other higher education associations in launching a task force.

November 21, 2022

Midterm Election Aftermath

Terry Hartle and Jon Fansmith talk about what the midterm elections mean for higher education policy in the lame-duck session and beyond.

November 4, 2022

Education Department Issues Final Rules on Student Debt Relief, Other Programs

The Department of Education released final regulations on targeted student debt relief programs on Oct. 31, hitting the Nov. 1 deadline to meet an implementation date of July 1, 2023.

October 13, 2022

Nasser Paydar Talks Mental Health, Student Debt Relief, and Other Priorities for the Education Dept.

Nasser Paydar, assistant secretary for postsecondary education at the Department of Education, joins the hosts to talk about what the department is doing to improve access and affordability for college students.

September 29, 2022

Higher Ed Policy Predictions for the Fall

Jon Fansmith and Terry Hartle are back to give their predictions for what Congress will dive into this fall before they adjourn ahead of midterm elections, including a continuing resolution to fund the government through the end of the year.