Panel Calls for Overhauling Student Grants

Josh Mitchell:

A blue-ribbon panel is calling for an overhaul of the federal Pell-grant program for low-income college students, reflecting concerns that not enough of the award recipients end up graduating.
The report–set to be released Tuesday by a panel of educators convened by the College Board, a trade group of universities and colleges–adds to the debate about federal student-aid programs, which have grown rapidly under President Barack Obama.
The president is expected to propose a budget Wednesday that would again spend heavily on grants and loans, despite complaints from some Republican lawmakers and other critics that the programs, which require congressional approval, have become too costly and often ineffective in helping Americans get jobs. The grants are exempt from the sequester, the across-the-board spending cuts that began in March.