Senator Claiborne Pell, best known for his role in the founding of the Pell Grant in 1963, passed away on December 30. Pell leaves a legacy full of achievement that forever changed higher education.  Although personally wealthy, Pell understood the importance of extending access to higher education to those who are not — the Pell Grant program now provides more than $12 billion a year to low income students. Senator Pell is also well known for authoring the National Foundation of the Arts and the Humanities Act, which lead to creation of the National Endowments for the Arts.

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