12/05/04

As the economy continues to drag and good jobs are still scarce, a college education is the best way to break free of this cycle. A college diploma may not immediately lead to one's dream job, but it greatly increases the opportunity for a promising a future. For many accomplished but low-income students, the benefits of a higher education come only with a little help from the government. But when it comes to federal financial aid the Bush administration might soon be extending fewer helping hands. A bill recently passed by Congress, and expected to be signed by President Bush this week, undermines the federal Pell grant program.

These Pell grants, which do not need to be repaid, are intended to encourage low-income students to pursue a college education. But this new spending bill could result in more than 1 million students receiving less grant money, and 100,000 students becoming ineligible to receive anything.

The bill changes the formula that determines a student's eligibility for virtually all forms financial aid, including Pell grants. Families will no longer be able to deduct local and state taxes from their total income. This will make it look as though they have more money available to spend college when they really don't. Those who will be most affected are students from families making $35,000 to $40,000 a year. The idea is that this will save the administration more than $300 million in 2005.

For an administration that claims to emphasize the value of education, it's peculiar that the Republicans in Congress feel the need to jeopardize the college hopes of students who already have the odds stacked against them. For the past decade the demand for Pell grants has increased every year, and until now, so has the number of those who qualify to benefit from them.

The amount of money that the government plans to save as a result of this bill will hardly make a dent in the outrageous federal deficit. It's the nation's youth who will be shouldering the burden of this deficit for years to come. It is odd that the government is not more invested in their future.

Perhaps the real danger in this bill lies in the fact that President Bush will actually be able to take credit for increasing Pell grant funding. Although it is true that part of the bill calls for several million dollars to be added to the Pell grant program, demand for these grants is so high that millions of dollars will quickly evaporate and most students will still be left with less grant money than they need. It's this backdoor approach that's most troubling about the issue. The Bush administration can claim to support education funding, and seemingly have the evidence to support that claim.

But the truth is, this new spending bill undermines the ability of at least 100,000 low-income students to attend college while making the administration look like pro-education, deficit-cutting champions.

Page 1 of 1

Article Tools