Interview with author Ric Keller: ‘Few people take a risk and chase the bears’

It was rewarding. I was passionate about helping students from low-income families go to college, mainly because I was raised by a single mom and didn’t have enough money to go to college. It was only because of federal financial aid (Pell Grants) and the generosity of my mom’s eighty one-year-old boss that I was able to cobble together enough money to go to college. It gave me a good feeling that, as a member of Congress, I could possibly use my gifts and help kids go to college.  Working as a team, I achieved my goal of increasing Pell Grants (college aid) by 62 percent—which helped more than five million students from low-income families go to college.