ABSTRACT
This chapter explores the impact of federal and state public policies on Minority Serving Institutions (MSIs). It discusses the many layers of state policies that intersect with MSIs and how these vary considerably across the US Pell Grants are a critical federal finance policy for those students enrolled in MSIs. Higher education researchers tend to agree that the Pell Grant is a cornerstone of the federal government’s support for lower-income students. The increasing costs of attending college coupled with cratering state investment in higher education saps the purchasing power of the Pell Grant. Many critics of higher education public policy argue that state priorities rarely align with higher education finance policies. The dominant public policy narratives in higher education prioritize access and attainment for traditionally underrepresented communities. In his critical assessment of state public policy approaches to higher education finance, St. John refers to the “new inequality of opportunity”.
