New research from the University of Alabama’s Education Policy Center tracks federal Pell spending from 1975 to 2022. Photo illustration by Justin Morrison/Inside Higher Ed | David Schaffer/iStock/Getty Images

Federal funding for Pell Grants, and the number of awards given, plummeted between fiscal years 2011–12 and 2021–22. Black student enrollment in public colleges and universities plunged by nearly a half million students over that same period. A new report , produced by the University of Alabama’s Education Policy Center for the Southern Education Foundation, suggests the declines in financial aid and Black students attending college are linked.

The report, released Tuesday, traced trends in Pell Grant funding over decades and showed how these fluctuations dealt a disproportionat

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