Ep. 45: Debate: Using Pell Grants for Very Short-Term Programs
In The News Piece in Inside Higher Education
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Photo by Andrea Piacquadio from Pexels
April 27, 2021
Amy Laitinen appeared on Inside Higher Education's The Key podcast to explore the potential -- and the potential pitfalls -- of changing the main federal student grant program to cover enrollment in short-term training programs.
Congress is considering expanding use of the federal government’s main postsecondary grant program to cover enrollment in training programs as short as eight weeks. Supporters – community college leaders, corporations and advocates for a more skilled workforce – believe the change is essential to serve tens of millions of Americans who don’t have the money or time for degree and other longer-term programs. Those who oppose “short-term Pell,” though, say proponents exaggerate the quality and value of most short-term credentials and that this change will exacerbate existing equity gaps that leave Black, brown and low-income Americans behind.
Read the full article here.