The Southern Education Foundation and the University of Alabama’s Education Policy Center recently released a new report documenting the alarming trends in federal Pell Grant funding, which has decreased significantly from $36 billion in 2011-2012 to $26 billion in 2021-2022.

Over the same time period, there was a steep decline in Black student enrollment, particularly at institutions in the South. Between 2011-2012 and 2021-2022, there was a decrease of over 487,000 Black students at U.S. colleges and universities, with the South accounting for 58 percent of that decline. Additionally, total Pell Grant recipient enrollment in the South declined by 23 percent, and almost 25 percent less Pell Grant funding flowed to southern colleges and universities.

Among the country’s 17 southern states, total college enrollment fell in 14 states, and Black student enrollment fell in 16 states. The number of Pell Grant recipients and the percentage of students receiving Pell Grants fell in 16 of 17 states. When adjusted for inflation, Pell funding levels dropped in 16 of 17 states between 2011-2012 and 2021-2022.

Decreases in Black student enrollment in southern states were the most pronounced at community colleges and public institutions. Overall, there were more than 500,000 fewer Black students in public colleges and universities in 2021-2022 than a decade earlier. Majority-Black community colleges in the South lost 55 percent of their Pell awardees and 36 percent of enrollments over this 10-year period. Among the South’s urban majority-Black community colleges, Pell awardees dropped by 57 percent, and total enrollment dropped by 46 percent.

According to the report’s authors, there are several ways federal lawmakers can stabilize Pell Grant funding. These include making funding for Pell Grants completely mandatory and increasing the Pell Grant program to at least the adjusted-for-inflation level from 2011-2012. The authors also encourage state policymakers to increase their collaboration with congressional delegations to support stable Pell funding and expand their need-based student aid programs to cover any remaining costs, after Pell, to attend a state’s flagship university.

The authors write, “While this report did not conclude a causal relationship between Pell funding and Black student enrollment loss, leaders of both political parties have long noted that the Pell program’s funding structure is among the most complex of any federal program. But the sheer complexity of the Pell Grant program is no excuse for inaction. The time to address the half-million slippage in Black students attending college is now.”