The Pell grant program is the largest source of need-based federal financial aid available to low-income students, currently providing a maximum of $5500 in grants to undergraduate students. The program is a major investment of public money, and policymakers have a responsibility to ensure that the investment yields results. Because low-income students and their families make considerable investments of time and resources to accompany federal spending on Pell, it is imperative for policy makers and higher education leaders to help them get the highest return on their investments as well. This article presents a discussion of the problems with Pell-share measures and the likely distortions following from the persistent use of them as indicators of Institutional effectiveness at improving the lives of low-income students. The authors propose the idea that not "Pell share" but "Pell cost"--i.e., the expenditures in Pell grants needed to produce one baccalaureate degree recipient at an institution--is the information that policymakers really need in determining whether the investment of federal resources through the Pell grant program is improving the lives of low-income students.