Pell Grants Said to Face a Shortfall of $6 Billion

Bush administration officials to warn Congress that the most important federal aid program, Pell Grants, may need up to $6 billion in additional taxpayer funds next year. Driving the increased applications for federal aid, in part, have been nontraditional students returning to school to improve their job skills during the economic downturn. Estimates by the Department of Education suggest that the new president will face an unusually burdensome financing shortfall or the fallout that would accompany trimming the nation’s leading college aid program.