The House Tuesday is scheduled to consider a bill that would eliminate a limit on the amount of Pell grant funds available to students attending the least expensive schools in the United States.

The measure (HR 990) would repeal a provision, known as “tuition sensitivity,” that was added in 1992 to the 1965 higher education law. It effectively lowers the maximum Pell grant award available to students at schools where tuition and fees are less than $675 per year.

Under the law(PL 105-244), the government calculates the amount of Pell funds that students at the lower-cost schools can receive, but it uses a different formula for those attending more expensive schools. According to Democratic aides, the change would allow the affected students to receive an average of $108 more per year. The Congressional Research Service estimates that it would affect 90,000 to 100,000 students.

“It simply repeals this rule so that all students and schools are treated fairly,” said Rachel Racusen, spokeswoman for the House Education and Labor Committee. She added that because many of the poorest students attend community colleges, “the $108 can make a huge difference.”

Education and Labor Chairman George Miller, D-Calif., and ranking Republican Howard P. “Buck” McKeon of California introduced the bill this month. Because California’s community colleges lowered their tuition fees from $26 to $20 per unit effective Jan. 1, the rule disproportionately affects students in California.

They also said the current provision is a disincentive for schools that are considering lower tuition rates.

“Students should not be financially penalized for attending a low-cost school, and colleges and universities should not be punished for reducing their tuition costs,” Miller said in a Feb. 13 statement.

Congress raised the maximum Pell grant award — which benefits 5.5 million of the neediest college students annually — to $4,310 in the fiscal 2007 spending law (PL 110-5). In its fiscal 2008 budget proposal, the Bush administration requested raising the maximum award to $4,600 in fiscal 2008 and to $5,400 by 2012. However, no student can receive an award higher than the cost of attendance, which includes tuition, fees, books, transportation and living expenses.

Democratic aides said repealing the provision in the higher education law would not reduce the number or the amount of Pell grant awards available to other students.

In the 109th Congress, a similar provision was included in a House-passed bill to reauthorize portions of the higher education law; it also was included in a measure approved by the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee for the same purpose. Squabbles over other provisions in those bills kept either from advancing further.

The House will consider the bill under suspension of the rules, an expedited procedure that bars amendments, limits debate and requires a two-thirds majority to pass.