If the change in the Consumer Price Index (CPI) decreases, will the Pell Grant maximum also decrease?
Given that the language in the bill uses the term “increase” when referring to the Pell Grant add-ons, it is unlikely that the Pell Grant add-ons would ever decrease. In situations where the CPI decreases, the Pell Grant add-on would likely remain the same amount as the previous year. However, legal experts at the Department of Education will ultimately need to make that interpretation. The Pell Grant Program faces its most serious risk of decreases from the appropriations process, not from mandatory add-ons. Struck from the final bill by the Senate Parliamentarian was legislative language that would have guaranteed no decreases in the Pell Grant maximum. If Congress fails to appropriate enough funds to maintain the appropriated base, the program maximum could decrease.
