| The Federal Pell grant has not kept pace with the increasing costs of higher education today. Pell does not increase with the cost of attendance, therefore, many low income students have limited opportunities when choosing colleges, and those limitations are not always linked to their academic abilities. More students are depending on federal student loans, parent loans and alternative loans to fund their college educations. In this paper I show that the Pell grant is not succeeding in bringing opportunity for equality to all students in higher education.;Low income students have fewer opportunities to attend the most prestigious colleges; this choice should be based on individual merit and potential, rather than the student's ability to pay for their education. In other words, a student suffers inequality in education when choices are limited to affordable colleges. Reasons for inequality in education also include federal financial aid's inadequacy in filling in the gaps of inequity, as well as demographics. Students from rural high schools can face similar inequality based on availability of college courses and adequate technology. |
