White House

Coalition Letter on Repealing Taxation of Pell Grants

June 27, 2022

Today, The Hope Center for College, Community, and Justice and the American Association of Community Colleges, along with 15 other higher education organizations, sent a letter to Congressional leaders urging them to repeal the taxation of Pell Grants that students use to support their basic needs like food, housing, and child care. Approximately 3 million Pell Grant recipients are taxed each year. The letter also urges Congress to fix a harmful and confusing interaction between Pell Grants and the American Opportunity Tax Credit (AOTC) that negatively affects 730,000 students each year, and to eliminate the AOTC penalty for students with a drug conviction, similar to the change made to Pell Grants under the FAFSA Simplification Act in 2020.