WASHINGTON – U.S. Sen. Susan Collins introduced legislation Monday to strengthen the Pell grant program so that more families can afford higher education.

Collins’ legislation will increase the maximum Pell grant by $450 to $4,500 for the 2005-2006 award year. It also provides higher authorization levels for the Pell maximum grant that would allow for a doubling of the maximum grant to $9,000 over the next five years.

In 1975, the maximum Pell grant covered about 80 percent of the costs of attending a public, four-year institution. Today, it covers less than half of these costs, forcing students to make up the difference by taking on larger and larger amounts of debt. On average, students from the University of Maine graduate with about $18,000 in debt from federal student loans alone, and this reflects national trends, according to Collins.