Pell Institute

The Pell Institute conducts a variety of research and policy analysis in order to help improve educational opportunities for low-income, first generation, and disabled college students (Pell Institute, 2011).

The purpose of the Pell institute is to serve as a liaison between policymakers and practitioners through research and policy analysis, be a proponent for low income, first generation and disabled students who want to attend higher education and to build relationships with organizations at the state, federal and national level to maintain and maximize the Pell grant program (Pell Institute, 2011).

The organization was named after Senator Claiborne Pell, who was a strong proponent and who helped establish the Pell grant program.

The Pell Institute works on a variety of projects and publications. Some of their current projects include Transfer and Beyond, which studied six community colleges in Texas. The colleges were highly successful in transferring low-income and first generation college students to four- year institutions (Pell Institute, 2011).  The Travelers EDGE program is a corporate college access and success program which targets low-income students through academic programs such as mentoring and internships. Lastly, they are working on a Provisional Admission policy which allows students to enroll at a four year institution on a provisional or trial basis under specific conditions. The program is targeted at economically disadvantaged students (Pell Institute, 2011).

The Pell Institute is highly engaged in protecting programs that directly impact low-income and economically disadvantaged students. Through a variety of publications, they address issues that relate and impact students are deemed as such. They also conduct a variety of research on federal programs such as the Pell grant and TRIO programs. Lastly, they conduct policy analysis and research on attainment, retention and graduation rates. The report below is the most recent report and discusses President Obama's vision of increasing degree attainment. The report outlines President Obama's goal and provides recommendations that will help target low-income students (Pell Institute, 2011).

The report begins with President Obama's vision of degree attainment. The idea behind the goal is that the United States is struggling to remain competitive in today's economy. With globalizing constantly increasing, it is important for the United States to be competitive with other markets. "Many believe the nation's standing and competitiveness is being jeopardized as numerous countries begin and continue to surpass the United Sates in degree attainment" (Pell Institute, 2011). The United States is ranked fifth overall in degree attainment for adults aged 25 to 64 (Pell Institute, 2011). According to the Pell Institute, the ability to attain a degree is related to income inequality and inadequacies within our education system (2011).  The Pell Institute recommends that the Administration take a closer look at income-based inequalities in an effort to increase degree attainment. Their recommendations include:

·         Set and track goals to reduce income-based disparities on key educational outcomes related to the 2020 goal.

·         Funnel federal dollars, such as Title 1 funds to the low-income, underperforming students that need it most

·         Protect the Pell grant against cuts that will reduce college access for low-income students

·         Increase supplemental college access and support services for low-income students throughout the educational pipeline (Pell Institute, 2011).

The Pell Institute's is devoted to protecting the Pell grant program and assisting low-income, economically disadvantaged students. I believe their goals are a bit one-sided as there is a growing middle-class population that should be afforded the same protection and guidance.

Pell Institute. 2011. About Us. Retrieved from http://www.pellinstitute.org/about_us.shtml

Pell Institute. 2011. Current Projects. Retrieved from http://www.pellinstitute.org/current_projects.shtml.

Pell Institute. 2011. Developing 20/20 vision on the 2020 degree attainment goal: the threat of income-based inequality in education. Retrieved from http://www.pellinstitute.org/downloads/publications-Developing_2020_Vision_May_2011.pdf.