Where did the first Pell Grant come from?

Question

How long has the Pell Grant been around? Where did it come from? Who funds it?

Answer 1

From Pell himself

Answer 2

Congress sought to honor the work of a man whose long term advocacy and support of programs that legislated increased federal funding made college a reality for millions of students. Accordingly, the Higher Education Amendments of 1980 renamed the Basic Education Opportunity Grant Program the Pell Grant Program after Rhode Island's Senior Senator Claiborne Pell.

As a result of the 1980 Amendments the Parent Loan for Undergraduate Students (PLUS) Program was also established. Middle-income families were now able to borrow $3,000 a year for each dependent child in school regardless of parent income.