Issue Primers

As the price of a college education has risen, an increasing number of students and their families have come to rely on assistance from the federal government to pay for their education. In the last decade, after adjusting for inflation, the federal government’s share of all funds used to pay for postsecondary education fell from 70% ($207.9 billion) in 2011-2012 to 53% (130.5 billion) in 2021-2022.

Funding for federal, state, and institutional student aid has varied over the last decade. Between 2011-2012 and 2021-2022, federal student aid through Pell Grants decreased 36% (from $40.4 billion to $25.8 billion). During the same period, state grants for postsecondary education grew 15% (from $11.3 billion to $12.9 billion), and institutional grants grew 48% (from $50.2 billion to $74.4 billion).