In updating the federal financial aid formula to reflect present-day tax data, Congress should have also adjusted the maximum aid ceilings to match rising tuition rates.

For the third year in a row, federal legislators voted to keep the top Pell Grants at $4,050, though the award now buys $800 less than it did 30 years ago, after adjusting for inflation, according to Rep. George Miller (D-Calif.). By comparison, the cost of higher education has increased by more than 20 percent during that time, even after accounting for inflation.

It is disingenuous for lawmakers to insist on modernization when numbers reduce the government’s expected aid contributions — as new tax data is expected to do — while turning a blind eye to swelling college tuition.

To explain the proposed aid regulations, politicians in Congress have cited a $3.7 billion deficit in the Pell Grant program, which they say the cost savings will help pay off.

Of course, elected officials forget that the shortfall has been caused by several years of systematic underfunding that they themselves approved, thus choosing to penalize students instead of their pet projects to make up for fiscally irresponsible policy. As a result, 1.2 million students will likely see their aid reduced, education advocates contend.

Instead of blaming years of debt that was racked up during a time when few current students could even vote, Congress should look elsewhere to balance the budget and restore — if not increase — aid to students, who need it badly.