Washington — Thousands of students who received Pell Grants last year may be denied them this year, a new analysis suggests. But students who continue to receive the grants will see their awards increase substantially.

The analysis, by Mark Kantrowitz, publisher of FinAid, a Web site about student aid, estimates that the $69 cut in the maximum Pell Grant, contained in a 2008 spending bill that was signed into law last month, will result in roughly 100,000 students with incomes close to the cutoff losing their eligibility for the grants. That’s because the cutoff is tied to the Pell maximum in the discretionary portion of the Education Department’s budget.

Students who are disqualified from receiving Pell Grants will also be ineligible for Academic Competitiveness and Smart Grants, which go exclusively to Pell recipients.

But another bill enacted last year will result in students who hold onto the grants receiving much more aid than last year. That bill, a budget-reconciliation measure that slashed subsidies to student lenders, provided enough mandatory funds for the Pell program to provide for a $490 increase in the grant, bringing the maximum award to $4,731. —Kelly Field