Updated my Pell Grant table based on new data on the Federal Student Aid
site this evening.  The growth in Pell Grants reached unprecedented
levels in the quarter ending March 2010, with grants up over 60%.

Highlights:

• Overall, Pell grants rose 60.4% to $11.4 billion driven by a 36%
  increase in recipients and a 17% increase in the size of the average
  grant.

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Federal Student Loans Continue Strong Trends; Rise Over 20% In First Half Of 2009-10 Academic Year

The Federal Student Aid Data Center website
has updated their federal student loan data for the 3rd quarter (March
quarter end) of the 2009-10 academic year.  Given the adjustments made
to these figures in the subsequent quarter, SLA chooses to analyze this
data one quarter after its initial release, which is why this post
analyzes the quarter ending December 2009.

Observations:

• Overall, federal loan disbursements grew 20.2% in the first six months of 2009-10 to $41.5 billion.
• Direct Lending saw a 59.5% increase in disbursements to $14.5
  billion and held a 35% share while FFELP disbursements increased 6.1%
  to $27.1 billion for a 65% share.