Amy Bragg Carey, president of Friends University, and Kathleen S. Jagger, president of Newman University, write:  Right now, Congress is weighing whether to update the current level of funding for Pell Grants, which help students most in need attend colleges and technical schools in Kansas and across the nation. One thing the lawmakers should strongly consider is this: If you chart the buying power of Pell Grants over the years, the falling line tells the story of how the grants — the foundation of federal financial aid programs — help students far less than they once did. The statistics add up to this: It’s time to significantly increase Pell Grants and restore the access and opportunity envisioned when the grants were created 50 years ago. Senators and representatives in Washington have the chance — through the budget process this fall — to make education more affordable once again by seriously increasing Pell Grants instead of just making the minimal adjustments they do in most years.