Obama’s proposed Education budget lowers the barriers to many students seeking Pell Grants and loans for college, reports Washington University’s Student Life paper:

“The estimated national average grant would increase by $121 under the budget proposal, bringing the total to $3,357. Under current estimates, the proposal could increase the number of Pell Grant recipients by 260,000.

To ensure that Pell Grants keep current with the economic times, the budget would tie the grant total to inflation. Education experts see this as a correction for the decades-long devaluation of the Pell Grant, which once covered more than two-thirds of the yearly cost of a public college education but now covers 35 percent.”

260,000 is a lot of new grants, and the inflation-tie is a good and necessary change. Of course, the cost of college tuition is rising at a rate that dwarfs national inflation … but even doing something modest to address the problem of grand devaluation is a direct acknowledgement that there is a problem, so that’s progress.

“…The president expressed confidence in his plan for the country’s future in his first major education speech before the U.S. Hispanic Chamber of Commerce on March 10.

‘The future belongs to the nation that best educates its citizens,’ Obama said. ‘We have everything we need to be that nation…and yet, despite resources that are unmatched anywhere in the world, we have let our grades slip, our schools crumble, our teacher quality fall short and other nations outpace us.’”

It’s a good start. Let’s see what happens in Congress’s budget approval process.

UPDATE: Things are taking shape quickly: “The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (ARRA), commonly referred to as the economic stimulus bill, provides approximately $100 billion for education across the United States, including early learning, K-12, and post-secondary education.”

For highlights of the national priorities identified in the ARRA, and for a state-by-state breakdown of the funds and their intended uses, see Higher Education Stimulus | College & University Grants and Funds.