# 119-s-4859: Pell Grant Preservation and Expansion Act of 2026

119-s-4859, Pell Grant Preservation and Expansion Act of 2026, is a 119th Congress bill sponsored by Sen. Hirono, Mazie K. [D-HI] (D-HI); status introduced; PRIA reads it as touching household money (as of 2026-09-26).

- Canonical: https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-s-4859
- As of: 2026-09-26
- Plain-text twin of the page above; the HTML and this file carry the same facts.

## Facts
- Bill: 119-s-4859
- Congress: 119
- Title: Pell Grant Preservation and Expansion Act of 2026
- Status: introduced
- Introduced: 2026-06-23
- Sponsor: Sen. Hirono, Mazie K. [D-HI] (D-HI)
- Cosponsors: 30
- Policy area: Education
- Touches household money: yes
- Last recorded action: 2026-09-26

## Summary

**Would convert the Federal Pell Grant into a mandatory, inflation‑adjusted, expanded program with larger, predictable awards.** It would raise maximum Pell awards to $10,000 in award year 2026–27, climb to $14,000 by 2030–31, and set a $15,000 baseline in 2031–32 indexed to the Consumer Price Index. It would also expand eligibility and add program supports for historically underserved students. - Students and families would get bigger, steadier grants and more time to finish college. Maximum awards would grow toward a $15,000 baseline and total eligibility would be restored to 18 semesters. - Undocumented "Dreamer" students who meet specified education or service conditions would become eligible, with the Secretary able to waive age limits for hardship. - Colleges would follow new, standardized satisfactory academic progress rules and programs would reserve 10% of the maximum Pell for Student Support Services and 10% for a Scholarship Component, while funding would move to ongoing mandatory Treasury funding.

## Cosponsors (30)

- Sen. Murray, Patty [D-WA] (D-WA), 2026-06-23T00:00:00.000Z
- Sen. Reed, Jack [D-RI] (D-RI), 2026-06-23T00:00:00.000Z
- Sen. Whitehouse, Sheldon [D-RI] (D-RI), 2026-06-23T00:00:00.000Z
- Sen. Kaine, Tim [D-VA] (D-VA), 2026-06-23T00:00:00.000Z
- Sen. Padilla, Alex [D-CA] (D-CA), 2026-06-23T00:00:00.000Z
- Sen. Shaheen, Jeanne [D-NH] (D-NH), 2026-06-23T00:00:00.000Z
- Sen. Bennet, Michael F. [D-CO] (D-CO), 2026-06-23T00:00:00.000Z
- Sen. Blumenthal, Richard [D-CT] (D-CT), 2026-06-23T00:00:00.000Z
- Sen. Markey, Edward J. [D-MA] (D-MA), 2026-06-23T00:00:00.000Z
- Sen. Duckworth, Tammy [D-IL] (D-IL), 2026-06-23T00:00:00.000Z
- Sen. Heinrich, Martin [D-NM] (D-NM), 2026-06-23T00:00:00.000Z
- Sen. Warnock, Raphael G. [D-GA] (D-GA), 2026-06-23T00:00:00.000Z
- Sen. Warren, Elizabeth [D-MA] (D-MA), 2026-06-23T00:00:00.000Z
- Sen. Gillibrand, Kirsten E. [D-NY] (D-NY), 2026-06-23T00:00:00.000Z
- Sen. Smith, Tina [D-MN] (D-MN), 2026-06-23T00:00:00.000Z
- Sen. Van Hollen, Chris [D-MD] (D-MD), 2026-06-23T00:00:00.000Z
- Sen. Murphy, Christopher [D-CT] (D-CT), 2026-06-23T00:00:00.000Z
- Sen. Booker, Cory A. [D-NJ] (D-NJ), 2026-06-23T00:00:00.000Z
- Sen. Wyden, Ron [D-OR] (D-OR), 2026-06-23T00:00:00.000Z
- Sen. Klobuchar, Amy [D-MN] (D-MN), 2026-06-23T00:00:00.000Z
- Sen. Durbin, Richard J. [D-IL] (D-IL), 2026-06-23T00:00:00.000Z
- Sen. King, Angus S., Jr. [I-ME] (I-ME), 2026-06-23T00:00:00.000Z
- Sen. Merkley, Jeff [D-OR] (D-OR), 2026-06-23T00:00:00.000Z
- Sen. Fetterman, John [D-PA] (D-PA), 2026-06-23T00:00:00.000Z
- Sen. Ossoff, Jon [D-GA] (D-GA), 2026-06-23T00:00:00.000Z
- Sen. Baldwin, Tammy [D-WI] (D-WI), 2026-06-24T00:00:00.000Z
- Sen. Schiff, Adam B. [D-CA] (D-CA), 2026-06-24T00:00:00.000Z
- Sen. Luján, Ben Ray [D-NM] (D-NM), 2026-06-24T00:00:00.000Z
- Sen. Kim, Andy [D-NJ] (D-NJ), 2026-07-23T00:00:00.000Z
- Sen. Alsobrooks, Angela D. [D-MD] (D-MD), 2026-09-23T00:00:00.000Z

## Provisions PRIA read

- Bigger Pell grants and eligibility: benefit, high. This bill would make Pell funding mandatory and raise Pell award sizes. It would set the maximum Pell to $10,000 in 2026–2027 and step up to $14,000 by 2030–2031, then set a $15,000 baseline for 2031–2032 and index thereafter by the CPI (rounded to $50). If your Student Aid Index (SAI) is negative,…
- Pell aid for Dreamer students: benefit, high. This bill would let certain noncitizen 'Dreamer' students qualify for Title IV aid, including Pell, if they meet listed education, service, or deferred‑action requirements. Covered paths include graduating high school or being on track, completing two years of postsecondary study, earning a credent…
- New academic progress rules for Pell: mixed, high. This bill would replace current satisfactory academic progress rules with detailed new ones. Schools would have to use fair, consistent SAP policies, evaluate progress each time, and explain incompletes, withdrawals, repeats, and transfer credits (accepted transfer credits count as both attempted a…
- Pell support and scholarship shares: mixed, low. This bill would set Student Support Services funding at 10% of the total maximum Pell Grant. It would also specify that the Scholarship Component be less than 10% of the total maximum Pell Grant. The bill would replace a 10% allocation figure in one statutory subsection with 5%, which could reduce…

## Related bills

- 119-s-5108: Right to IVF Act of 2026
- 119-s-1503: Equality Act
- 119-s-852: Richard L. Trumka Protecting the Right to Organize Act of 2025
- 119-s-2150: Women’s Health Protection Act of 2025
- 119-s-2523: John R. Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act of 2025
- 119-s-1115: Paycheck Fairness Act

## Sources
- [119-s-4859 on Congress.gov](https://www.congress.gov/bill/119th-congress/senate-bill/4859)

## Related
- [119-s-5108: Right to IVF Act of 2026](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-s-5108)
- [119-s-1503: Equality Act](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-s-1503)
- [119-s-852: Richard L. Trumka Protecting the Right to Organize Act of 2025](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-s-852)
- [119-s-2150: Women’s Health Protection Act of 2025](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-s-2150)
- [119-s-2523: John R. Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act of 2025](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-s-2523)
- [119-s-1115: Paycheck Fairness Act](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-s-1115)
- [All bills in Congress](https://policyrisk.com/legislation)

Source: PRIA, https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-s-4859 (as of 2026-09-26).