The history of our country can easily be paralleled to the history of college grants. In fact, grants for college were created in 1643, when one Lady Anne Radcliffe Mowlson set up the first such fund for Harvard. Another important act happened in 1862, when then President Abraham Lincoln created the ROTC and the state college system. Then in 1942, President Franklin Delano Roosevelt presented the GI Bill to Congress.

A beneficiary of the GI Bill was Claiborne Pell. He obtained his Bachelors before World War II, and then served in the Great War until it ended in 1945. From there, he got his Masters from Columbia University thanks to the GI Bill, and with the help of student loans. He would go on to be part of the officials that created the United Nations, then became a U.S. Senator.

So in 1972, Pell promoted a bill to create what would become the Basic Educational Opportunity Grant, also known as the BEOG. It would provide federal money, based on need, for academically worthy students to achieve advanced degrees. It became so successful that in 1980, Congress renamed the BEOG the Pell Grant, a name this act still goes by.

The grants online has changed considerably. Over the years, it had expanded its qualifications, allowing more students to get financial aid. That’s ended up being a two-edged sword. While the number grants permitted has grown geometrically, the cost of going for that degree, whether for a campus or online degree, has risen even more.

When it comes to obtaining college grants, the U.S. Department of Education has just released a report that’s truly cautionary. It shows the maximum amount of money one can get from Pell Grants has increased to as much as $5,350, the cost of higher education has increased to over $15,000 per year. That’s a $10,000 gap that has to be filled, either through private funding, obtaining more grants or taking out loans.

Even with President Obama pushing for an increase next year’s cap to $5,750 a year, these grants cover barely a third of overall college costs. The cost of a higher education is clearly outstripping what the federal government is willing to give.

For comparison, USA Today reports that when the Pell started in 1973, the maximum college grant was $452, but the average tuition at that time was $438. In hard numbers, if Obama’s proposal goes through, the Pell will have gone up 1275%. At the same time, costs have exploded by 3400%, nearly three times faster than the money provided to the Pell. To top it, state grants have shrunk considerably, citing the current economy as the reason.

The good news is there still are plenty of other grants out there besides the Pell. It takes a work and patience to get more than just the Pell. Still, private grants like the one Lady Mowlson gave Harvard are out there. You just have to look for them, and you could be on your way to that Bachelors degree everyone needs to advance in these modern times.