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Pell grant volume at Utah’s public colleges and universities exceeds $222 million

16 percent increase comes as year-round grant is offered

Pell grant volume at Utah’s public colleges and universities has exceeded $222 million for the 2017-18 award year – an increase of 16 percent compared to the 2016-17 award year. Nearly one in three of the 184,000 students who attend Utah’s public higher education institutions received a Pell grant in 2017-18.

Seven of the eight USHE institutions saw a double-digit percent increase in Pell grant disbursements. Of those, Utah Valley University saw the largest increase at 23 percent. These increases are due, in part, to the year-round availability of Pell grants after a restoration of the offering in a spending bill by Congress, which went into effect July 1, 2017. Prior to this change, students could only receive Pell grants for the fall and spring semesters.

“We are pleased to see a significant increase in Utah college students applying for and receiving federal student aid after the implementation of a year-round Pell grant offering,” said Dave Buhler, Commissioner of Higher Education. “Through our outreach programs, our office is actively involved in helping more Utah students complete the federal student aid application, which is necessary to determine qualification for Pell grants—a crucial tool in helping students access higher education.”

A breakdown of Pell recipients and disbursements by Utah public higher education institution is below:

Institution 2017-18 Recipients 2017-18 Disbursements 2016-17 Recipients 2016-17 Disbursements % increase in $
University of Utah 7,454 $31,557,112 7,124 $27,479,452 15%
Utah State University 9,540 $41,523,689 9,453 $35,731,280 16%
Weber State University 7,373 $29,405,575 7,073 $24,734,013 19%
Southern Utah University 3,035 $13,442,783 3,023 $12,265,630 10%
Snow College 1,751 $7,182,650 1,696 $6,529,622 10%
Dixie State University 3,977 $16,071,056 3,803 $14,190,358 13%
Utah Valley University 13,310 $54,199,138 12,496 $44,168,752 23%
Salt Lake Community College 9,026 $29,241,089 8,963 $26,955,093 8%
USHE Total 55,466 $222,623,092 53,631 $192,054,200 16%


Read more
about what the Utah System of Higher Education is doing to increase completion of the FAFSA (Free Application for Federal Student Aid).

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