Obama Seeks to Cut Pell Grant

Obama Seeks cuts to Pell Grants
By John Rosales

Changes are coming to your financial aid packages…possibly.

In an effort to cut the federal budget down President Obama recently announced that some changes are coming to students. Obama is outlining a plan for his 2011 financial budget and is targeting some key finanical aid programs. In an effort to reduce the growing costs and deficits for the Pell Grant that are projected to be about $20 billion dollars in the next year alone.

Among these changes will be a withdrawal of summer eligibility for the Pell Grant. Three years ago the Pell Grant gave the option for year round program eligibility, allowing students to apply for financial aid during the summer terms. Those students that rely on this grant in order to get an extra step up towards their degree will be feeling the hit.

Another fixture on the chopping block will be an option that allows for the government to pay the interest on graduate loans while the student is attending classes. Graduate students will no longer have the ability to have the government help pay the interest on their loans while in school, this does not apply to undergraduates who will still have said option.

Obama is cutting these programs in an effort to help quell continued pressure by the Republican Party to rein in federal spending. Obama's decision was made in an effort to maintain the current Pell Grant allotment of 5,550 dollars by making cuts to programs that were deemed not to be working as planned. According to the educational organization the year round Pell Grant options that allowed students to apply for financial aid during the summer term was not worth the cost that it accrued. This option was instituted about three years ago and had not lived up to expectations.

Republicans have been seeking cuts to spending, targeting among other things, the ever increasing costs of these student grants. Republican congress proposition for reducing the educational cost deficit of the Pell Grant was to decrease the maximum allotment of the grant from 5,550 to 4,705 dollars, reducing the grant funds by about 15%. Obama made the cuts to these educational programs in order to maintain the grant allotment at their current levels.

The cuts to the educational programs will be a problem for some students that rely on these summer programs to get a leg up on their progress towards degrees. However, without these cuts more students would have a harder time funding constantly escalating tuition costs. Even keeping the grant at its current amount is insufficient for the growing costs of higher education. Obamas’ plan will beef up the budget for educational grants and costs by $100 billion dollars over the next decade.

At A Glance:
Obama Administration
Pell Grant
Summer Financial Aid
LBCC financial aid office:
Takena Hall room 117
phone: 541-917-4850