The Federal Pell Grant program, authorized by Title IV-A-1 of the Higher Education Act of 1965, (HEA; P.L. 89-329), as amended, is the single largest source of federal grant aid supporting undergraduate students. The program provided approximately $29 billion in aid to approximately 7.2 million undergraduate students in FY2017. Pell Grants are need-based aid that is intended to be the foundation for all federal need-based student aid awarded to undergraduates. In award year 2015-2016, Pell Grants represented 72% of all federal undergraduate grant aid; 53% of federal, state, and institutional undergraduate need-based grant aid; and 28% of total grant aid for undergraduates coming from federal, state, institutional, and private sources. The discretionary statutory authority for the Pell Grant program was authorized through FY2017. The discretionary authorization was extended through FY2018 under the General Education Provisions Act (GEPA), although the program has continued to receive appropriations. HEA also provides permanent mandatory program appropriations. This report provides descriptions of key elements of the Pell Grant program and information on recipient demographics, award levels, award value, program costs, and program funding. The first section of the report addresses how the program works and describes the basic process for awarding Pell Grants including the application process, student eligibility requirements, award rules and calculations, and the role of the institution of higher education (IHE) in the process. This section is followed by sections on recipient characteristics and the role the program plays in relation to other student aid. The report explains the complex Pell Grant funding streams and their implications. Finally, program costs and estimates are presented. In addition, the appendices provide historical Pell Grant award amounts (Appendix A), Pell Grant recipient counts (Appendix B), recent and future program funding (Appendix C), surplus and shortfall levels (Appendix D), and acronyms commonly used in the report (Appendix E).