President Joe Biden put forward a $2,175 increase to the maximum federal Pell Grant award in his Fiscal Year 2023 budget proposal to congressional leaders this week, which would bring the maximum award to $8,670.

The proposed budget also doubles the current maximum Pell Grant award of $6,495 by 2029. Biden promised congressional leaders he would push to increase the current maximum Pell Grant award at his State of the Union address, earlier this month.

The expansion would allow nearly 6,657,000 more low-income students to receive federal Pell Grants, up from 6,133,000 this year.

“The Budget would also support strategies to improve the retention, transfer and completion of students by investing the Federal TRIO Programs, Gaining Early Awareness and Readiness for Undergraduate Programs, and new retention and completion grants,” the proposal reads.

Although many Democrats and Republicans in Congress increasingly support Pell Grant awards, the proposal is likely to get tangled up in many of Biden’s other initiatives, including increased spending on defense and law enforcement and tax raises on higher-income Americans.

Currently, students seeking federal Pell Grants can receive a maximum of $6,495 per semester. University officials – along with those from nearly 1,200 higher education institutions – previously called on Congress to increase the Pell Grant cap last March.

Officials also announced a new “focused initiative” in October which expanded University aid for Pell-eligible students.

The budget proposal also includes a $161 million increase in funding to the Department of Education’s Office of Civil Rights to help the department enforce civil rights legislation, including Title IX regulations.