Bill to cut Pell Grants in next school year

At the moment, there is a bill working its way through congress that, if passed, would cut the Pell Grants by $845 dollars as part of the Resolution to cut government spending. I do not think this is a good idea, for three main reasons.

  

1.  Some people in Congress believe that $845 is a fair cut that will be relatively easy for most students to handle. True, for most students. But for those that heavily rely on Pell Grants to pay for a major part of their tuition, this could mean they will be unable to return to school in the coming fall semester. These students, who are already struggling just to make ends meet, will be forced to frantically find some other way to pay those bills previously covered by the Pell Grants or, drop out of school.

   2. In addition to cutting the maximum Pell Grant amount by $845, the bill will also make about 17 million students ineligible to receive the Pell Grant this fall semester. A good portion of college students receive some kind of financial aid, and you can bet that Pell Grants are part of the financial aid, because Pell Grants are commonly known as the “backbone of financial aid in the country.” These students will be forced to look elsewhere for financial aid, probably loans, resulting in a larger debt for students upon graduation. Representative Virginia Foxx from North Carolina states and stresses that Pell Grants were strictly designed to help only the “most needy” and that the program has “gone way beyond its scope.” Has she noticed how expensive college is these days and how bad the economy has been the last decade? I would say that most college students are the “most needy”.

 

3. The timing of this bill is horrible. If the bill passes, it will take effect sometime in the summer. Financial aid packages for the following school year are determined in the spring. Meaning, if the bill is passed, financial aid departments for schools across the country will have redo all the financial aid packages. Plus, those students who had previously thought they had college tuition and bills covered for the next year will be in for a bad surprise, because their financial aid will be cut and they will have to frantically look for other sources of income.

There are many college students hoping, praying, that this bill does not make it through college, myself among them. If you want to read more on this and read the news article where I found the info and stats that are include in this blog, click here.