What Has André Carson Done To Help Indianapolis Students Get To College?

Pell Grants Are Worth Less Than They Were 50 Years Ago. Student Debt Is Crushing a Generation. The Fight Has Been Missing.

Thursday, April 23

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Indianapolis, IN — A college degree is supposed to be the path up.

 

For generations, it was the promise at the center of the American story—work hard, get educated, build a better life than the one you started with. Indianapolis students believed that promise. Their parents believed it. Their teachers told them to believe it. And then the system that was supposed to deliver on it quietly made the math impossible.

 

The maximum Pell Grant—the federal scholarship program designed specifically to make college accessible for low-income students—covered approximately 80% of the cost of attending a four-year public university when the program was created in the 1970s. Today it covers less than 30%. The gap between what Pell provides and what college actually costs has been filled by student loans—debt that follows graduates for decades, suppresses homeownership, delays family formation, and functions as a tax on the ambition of every first-generation college student who dared to believe the promise.

 

In Indianapolis, where child poverty runs at one in four and where first-generation college students are the rule rather than the exception in many neighborhoods, this is a daily reality that shapes whether a student from the east side applies to college at all or decides the math doesn't work and the risk isn't worth it.

 

André Carson has represented this city for 18 years.

 

He’s voted for Pell Grant increases when they came to the floor. He supported President Biden's student loan relief efforts. He’s expressed concern about college affordability in public statements. He voted for the FAFSA Simplification Act which was supposed to make the financial aid process less of a bureaucratic obstacle course for first-generation students.

 

But Pell Grant purchasing power has continued to decline. Student debt in Indiana now exceeds $30 billion. The FAFSA simplification rollout was a disaster—plagued by delays and errors that left hundreds of thousands of students, including Indiana students, unable to access financial aid on time for the 2024-2025 academic year. When that crisis hit, the congressman representing a district full of first-generation college students wasn’t among the loudest voices demanding accountability from the Department of Education.

 

What serious federal higher education advocacy looks like is fighting to double the maximum Pell Grant so it actually covers what college costs rather than a fraction of it. Authoring or championing legislation that ties institutional eligibility for federal funding to meaningful affordability outcomes so that colleges have a federal incentive to keep costs down rather than continue raising them. Pushing for free community college as a federal investment in the Indianapolis students who need a flexible, affordable on-ramp to credentials and degrees. Holding the Department of Education publicly accountable when a program as critical as FAFSA fails the students it was designed to serve.

 

That fight has not been waged visibly or consistently from this office.

 

The Indianapolis student who filled out the FAFSA, waited months for an answer, and missed enrollment deadlines because the system broke. The first-generation graduate carrying $40,000 in debt for a degree that was supposed to be the path up but became the anchor. The high school junior in a low-income neighborhood who looked at the math and decided college wasn't for people like her. These are the constituents who needed a champion in Washington—not just a vote when the bill arrived, but a sustained, visible, public fight for the policy that changes the equation.

 

"The Pell Grant used to cover 80% of college costs," Hornedo said. "Today it covers less than 30%. Student debt is crushing a generation of Indianapolis graduates who did everything right. The FAFSA system failed hundreds of thousands of students and the fight for accountability was barely visible from this office. Indianapolis students—especially first-generation students from low-income families who have been told their whole lives that education is the path up—deserve a congressman who fights every day to make sure that path is actually open to them. That fight has been missing. These students deserved better."

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This is part of the Hornedo campaign's daily accountability series, What Has André Carson Done?, running through May 1st. Learn more at georgehornedo.com.

 

Indianapolis deserves more than a vote in Washington. It deserves a congressman who uses the full platform of the office to fight for federal resources, to force the conversation at every level of government, and to show up for this community before the cameras arrive. That's the standard. That's what's been missing.

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RECORD CHECK: The Center for Effective Lawmaking ranks Congressman Carson 197th out of 220 House Democrats in legislative effectiveness. Of his claimed 22 bills signed into law, 2 are standalone enacted bills—the Ariel Rios Federal Building naming and the Kennedy-King National Commemorative Site Act. 

 

73% of Congressman Carson's campaign funding comes from PACs, much of it from corporate PACs including AES Indiana, BlackRock, and defense contractors. Only 7% comes from small-dollar donors.

 

When Julia Carson held this seat, Indianapolis was a competitive Democratic stronghold that helped power statewide wins. Under André Carson, the 7th Congressional District has become the worst in Indiana for voter turnout and Democrats haven't won statewide since 2012.