In more normal political times, higher education advocates, experts and lobbyists might be expecting to see progress on a number of issues once Congress returns from its August recess. They’d be optimistic, for starters, about the prospects for doubling the maximum Pell Grant award for students, expanding Pell to cover short-term programs like job training classes or standardizing federal financial aid applications. Instead, all eyes will be focused on the fight over the federal budget and the question of whether Congress can keep the government open after the end of the fiscal year on Sept. 30.
