During a recent presentation in Atlanta, we asked higher education leaders what percentage of their students receive Pell grants, and the answers vary widely. But when we followed up with inquiring what the biggest barrier is for Pell student success, the responses were more consistent: financial constraints, academic preparedness gaps and lack of support systems. What’s missing from this conversation is the stark reality that access alone is insufficient.
Despite decades of federal investment in Pell grants, the equity gap persists with devastating clarity. Students from the lowest income quartile face an average unmet financial need of $18,500, and completion rates for low-income and first-generation students is 45 percentage points lower compared to their higher-income peers. Perhaps most sobering: The U.S. has fallen from 2nd to 18th in bachelor’s degree attainment among OECD countries in just two decades.
Recent research from the Pew Research Center underscores why this gap matters so profoundly. While college degrees provide significant economic benefits, those benefits are not equally distributed. First-generation college graduates earn substantially less than their peers with college-educated parents a median household income of $99,600 compared to $135,800 for second-generation graduates. The wealth gap is even starker: $152,000 versus $244,500. These disparities reflect not just differences in family background but systemic inequities in how we support students throughout their college journey and beyond.
Who Today’s Learners Really Are
The profile of today’s learner tells the story of this stark reality. Fifty-two percent are first-generation college students, 51% come from low-to-moderate income families, 44% are over age 24 and 42% identify as students of color. These are not just statistics. Rather, they represent real individuals in our classrooms right now, navigating systems not originally designed with their identities in mind. They are also students who, despite obtaining degrees, may struggle to achieve the full economic benefits of their education without comprehensive institutional support.
However, here is what we have learned from institutions meeting students’ needs: Success goes beyond implementing one program or initiative that is the panacea. We must be steadfastly committed to building comprehensive, integrated systems that address the full student experience. At Bellarmine University (Louisville, KY) and Goucher College (Baltimore, MD), we have developed what we have coined a holistic playbook, i.e., a framework built on key dimensions and when implemented together, create transformational outcomes for Pell students.
Financial Aid with Strategy, Not Just Dollars
The obvious reality is that money matters, but throwing more financial aid at the problem without strategic thinking yields diminishing returns. Goucher’s Maryland Advantage program offers a compelling model. For Maryland residents who receive both Pell grants and state aid, the program covers 100% of direct costs (i.e., tuition, fees, housing and meals). The results speak volumes: Pell distribution increased by 9 percentage points and students receiving maximum federal and state aid more than doubled in year one of implementation. Similarly, at Bellarmine University, the HOPE Kentucky Scholars program awards full tuition and fees to in-state students who are eligible for both Pell grants and state aid. This program has increased the Pell distribution by 11 percentage points this year alone and increased retention of those students on campus.
The key lesson learned? Eliminate complexity and uncertainty. When students and families can clearly understand what college will cost them, enrollment decisions become about fit and aspiration rather than financial anxiety.
However, institutions developing comprehensive aid programs must navigate an increasingly volatile federal policy landscape. Recent changes under federal legislation threaten to fundamentally alter Pell Grant eligibility, potentially creating a major shift.
This policy uncertainty underscores why institutions need comprehensive strategies. Front-loading institutional aid, implementing completion grants for students facing final-semester emergencies and using predictive analytics to optimize aid packages all play crucial roles in keeping students on track to graduate. Most importantly, institutions must build flexible financial aid models that can adapt to changing federal policies while maintaining their commitment to student access and success.
Policy Volatility and Institutional Responsibility
Perhaps the most powerful aspect of successful Pell student programs is wraparound support networks. Goucher’s LAUNCH Scholars Network—a holistic support program for select first generation and Pell grant students—exemplifies this approach. LAUNCH provides an intentional six-stage journey that begins with summer transition programming and extends through post-graduation career connections.
The Power of Wraparound Support
The data validate this comprehensive approach. LAUNCH scholars consistently outperform their first-generation and Pell peers not in the program by significant margins: nine percentage points in first-to-second-year retention and 16.5 percentage points in second-to-third-year retention. What’s particularly striking is how the gap widens over time, suggesting that holistic support creates compounding benefits that become more valuable as students progress.
Bellarmine, too, has developed and codified the lived experience that prioritizes success for all students, which is affectionately known as IMPACT (inspiring meaningful personal, academic and career transformation). This distinctive, compelling student experience focuses on four key areas: engagement, belonging, wellness and purpose. However, it’s the strategic integration across these domains that makes all the difference. For example, academic support connects to career development, wellness programming reinforces belonging initiatives, and purpose-driven experiences enhance student engagement.
A Framework for Transformation
For institutions ready to move beyond incremental changes, we recommend a phased approach built on five key dimensions: people, program design, policy, structure and systems.
- People: Start with senior leadership commitment directly aligning with your strategic plan. Pell student success requires breaking down silos between enrollment, academic affairs, student affairs and other key areas. Create cross-functional teams with clear accountability mechanisms.
- Program design: Develop comprehensive financial aid programs that meet full demonstrated need, integrate career development from day one, and create cohort-based support networks that foster belonging.
- Policy: Implement institutional policies that support rather than penalize Pell students. This might mean revising satisfactory academic progress standards, creating emergency aid funds or restructuring work-study programs.
- Structure: Organize for success by creating centralized student success units or integrated service models that eliminate the runaround students often experience.
- Systems: Deploy predictive analytics and early alert systems that identify at-risk students before they consider leaving. Use data governance to inform resource allocation and measure what matters.
This type of transformation is no easy feat, but it is imperative in light of the current landscape. Institutions that have successfully implemented comprehensive approaches typically see more immediate results with benefits compounding over time.
The process begins with an honest assessment: mapping your current ecosystem of support, identifying gaps and building coalitions across campus units that may not have collaborated in the past. It requires sustained investment, not just financial but cultural commitment to seeing Pell students not as deficits to be saved but as assets to be supported.
Most importantly, it demands that we move toward fostering a milieu that meets students where they are. Access without success is a recipe missing one of the most important key ingredients, but when institutions commit to comprehensive, data-informed approaches that address the full range of students’ lives, transformation becomes possible.
The question should not be whether we can afford to make these investments in Pell student success. Rather, the question is whether we can afford not to do so. The students in our classrooms and our future as a nation depend on us getting this right.
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