Ep. 190: What to do About the Pell Grant Running out of Money with Kristin Hultquist

Last month the Congressional Budget Office projected an $11.5 billion shortfall in Pell funding by fiscal year 2027. The program provides need-based federal financial aid for more than 30 percent of American college students. Part of the funding problem is that Congress made getting aid easier without appropriating more money to cover the increase in students gaining access. Finding a solution requires out of the box thinking that creates sustainable funding without limiting opportunity for first-generation students, according to this week’s guest, Kristin Hultquist, the founder and CEO of HCM strategies and an expert in higher education policy and strategy development. In this episode of The Key, Hultquist speaks with Inside Higher Ed’s editor in chief Sara Custer about what a long-term funding strategy for a modern Pell Grant program could look like. Thank you to our partners at the Gates Foundation for sponsoring this episode.

You can listen to Ep. 190: What to do About the Pell Grant Running out of Money with Kristin Hultquist online on Radio and Podcast. Open the player on this page to stream the available audio.

Ep. 190: What to do About the Pell Grant Running out of Money with Kristin Hultquist is an episode from The Key with Inside Higher Ed by insidehighered.

This episode is 48:44 long.

This episode was published on Mar 5, 2026.

Yes. Use the heart button on the episode page to add it to your favorite episodes list.

Yes. This page shows related episodes from The Key with Inside Higher Ed when more episodes are available from the podcast feed.