When the Bush administration announced, a week prior to unveiling the president’s 2008 budget, that it was going to propose increasing the annual Pell grant, neither Democrats in Congress nor education officials could offer much criticism. Even Sen. Edward M. Kennedy (D-Mass.), a staunch liberal vehemently opposed to President Bush’s policies in general, could only say that the increase should have come sooner. This increase in the maximum amount of the Federal Pell grant, a nice alternative to student loans since grants don’t have to be paid back, is definitely a step in the right direction.
Unfortunately, as the budget was revealed, it became clear that for the one step the administration took forward, they took two steps back. Bush’s budget for 2008 eliminates the Federal Supplemental Educational Opportunity Grants (SEOG) and Perkins Loans.
SEOG grants and Perkins Loans are essential for undergraduate students with exceptional financial need to pay for college. Often, it is only via the combination of Pell grants, Perkins loans and SEOG grants that students are able to pay for and attend college.
Ed Board is all for increasing the annual Pell grant by the largest amount it’s been raised in three years – from $4100 to $4600 – but this extra $500 doesn’t make up for the millions of dollars of Perkins Loans and SEOG grants Bush proposes cutting – millions of dollars students depend on to pay for their education.
In a recent speech at North Carolina State University, Education Secretary Margaret Spellings said, “As costs skyrocket, it becomes increasingly difficult for middle-class families to afford college, and for low-income, mostly minority students, college is becoming virtually unattainable.” The administration is aware of the crisis occurring in the ability for students to afford higher education, yet throws students a tiny bone when they are starving. Pell grants covered almost 60 percent of the cost of a four-year public university 20 years ago. Today they only cover a third of the cost.
Spellings called for the increase in need-based aid, especially in the form of grants. The idea of increasing grants is fantastic, but only if such an increase decreases student dependency on loans-not if it decreases the total amount of aid available to students. Loans are better than nothing.
We believe that Congress, which has been working to make college more affordable, should reject Bush’s budget plan to eliminate Perkins and SEOG loans while increasing Pell grants until a better alternative is presented. The administration needs to seriously address the issue of affordable higher education and be realistic about the needs of the neediest and most deserving students.
