Recent study and survey findings around the impact of year-round Pell (YRP) signal an opportunity for colleges and universities to increase awareness about the benefits of the grant aid.
YRP awards are tied to gains in students’ credit accumulation, completion rates and employment earnings, according to a study by Dr. Vivian Liu of the Community College Research Center (CCRC) at Teacher’s College. However, many eligible low-income students are unaware of YRP aid or do not take advantage of it, which could hinder their momentum towards degree completion, research finds.
“I am disappointed to see that there are less than 20 percent of the people who are eligible actually using the year-round Pell,” said Liu, a CCRC postdoctoral research associate. “This is free money.”
Liu’s study revealed that for each $1,000 of additional YRP grant funding, summer enrollment increases by 27 percentage points, the likelihood of associate degree completion increases by 2.2 percentage points and third year earnings from college entry increase by $2,182.
Part of the reason low-income students are not using the aid funding is because colleges aren’t pushing YRP, Liu said.
“They aren’t telling the students, ‘Hey, come back for school,’ or even having enough classes in the summer,” she said. Other factors such as challenges during the FAFSA application process, summer travel plans or a decision to work instead may prevent eligible students from receiving or using YRP aid for summer enrollment.
Even so, a recent survey from the American Association of Community Colleges found that YRP has, in part, led to increases in summer enrollment at roughly 186 community colleges representing 1.9 million students.
