Bill would stop non-citizens from getting Pell Grants for college
S. 5451 — A bill to amend the Higher Education Act of 1965 to require that recipients of Pell Grants be citizens or nationals of the United States. · Filed by Jim Banks (R-IN) · Introduced Sep 22, 2026 · Referred to committee
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What it does
This bill changes the Higher Education Act. It says only U.S. citizens and nationals can get Pell Grants. Pell Grants are federal money that helps pay for college. Right now, some non-citizens can get them if they meet other rules. This bill would stop that.
Who it affects
Non-citizen students would lose access to Pell Grants. This includes permanent residents and refugees. They would have to pay more for college.
One thing to notice
The bill does not say what happens to non-citizens already getting Pell Grants. It also does not say if they can get other federal aid instead.
From the analysis of the bill text, linked under Primary records below.
Where it stands
- Sep 22, 2026 — Introduced · Congress.gov: “Introduced in Senate”
- Sep 22, 2026 — Referred to Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions · Congress.gov: “Read twice and referred to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions”
Dates and quoted wording are Congress.gov's action record; the timeline shows status changes, not every procedural step.
Words to know
- Pell Grants — Federal money given to students with low income to help pay for college.
- permanent residents — Non-citizens who have legal permission to live and work in the United States.
- refugees — People who fled their home country and came to the United States for safety.
- Higher Education Act — Federal law that sets rules for college aid and student loans.
How this was measured
Analysis — Quorum's AI read the bill text published by Congress.gov (709 characters) on Sep 26, 2026. Section numbers in the findings refer to that text, linked below; transparency and hidden-provision scores are compared against the median of 15,163 analysed bills.
Status and sponsors — Congress.gov's bill record — actions, committee referrals and cosponsors — loaded nightly. The timeline shows status changes, not every procedural action.
As of — page rendered 2026-09-26.
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