For many college students, summer is a time to pursue internships, work full-time or otherwise take a break from classes. Not so this year for many students at Louisiana community colleges.
The state’s system of two-year institutions has seen a 10 percent increase in enrollment over this time last summer and a 17 percent increase in credit hours pursued, said Monty Sullivan, president of the Louisiana Community and Technical College System. He attributes that jump to the first full summer of year-round Pell Grants since Congress restored the aid last year.
“That just doesn’t happen without some type of change in policy or resources that spurs it,” Sullivan said. “There’s no question in my mind that it is directly related back to the year-round Pell issue.”
With summer sessions just beginning on college campuses, many institutions are seeing an uptick in enrollment attributed in part to year-round Pell Grants. Because it's still early in the summer and many institutions have yet to determine their final numbers, there are no good estimates of how much attendance has increased across the country. But updates from a selection of colleges provide anecdotal evidence at least that the policy change is having a real impact at the campus level.
Read more at Inside Higher Ed: https://www.insidehighered.com/news/2018/06/21/more-college-students-attending-summer-classes-thanks-yearlong-pell-grants