U.S. Rep. Nita Lowey on Monday announced she is is supporting a proposal in President Barack Obama's budget to expand the Federal Pell Grant Program to cover the college summer semester.

Administrators at Westchester Community College say that in any given semester, roughly 50 percent of the school's students receive Pell Grants. WCC President Belinda Miles says students' educations suffer because the grants are currently not available during the summer.

The proposal would help an estimated 700,000 students nationwide.

Officials say that for the 2014-15 school year, more than 20,000 students in Westchester and Rockland counties received Pell Grants worth $79 million.