combines $900 billion in COVID-19 aid with a $1.4 trillion spending bill. Congress struck a deal on the bill Sunday.Under the deal, prisoners would again be allowed to obtain federal Pell grants for low-income students.
A 1994 bill blocked prisoners from the program, but momentum has been growing to reverse the decision.The Obama administration chipped away at the prohibition with a 2015 pilot program allowing prisoners to use Pell grants at a limited number of colleges.
The Trump administration expanded the program, and Education Secretary Betsy DeVos called on Congress to make the pilot permanent.An outright reversal of the prohibition had been proposed by Sen.