Act for SAFRA, which would reform federal financial aid system

SUBMITTED BY: Sarah Dobjensky, Susan Li and Emilio Lacques

Students at UCLA have hit a wall. A wall of debt, that is.

In the next few weeks, Congress will have a chance to help us break down that wall, and it should do so without hesitation.

Our nation’s social and economic health relies on the numbers of students who receive college degrees, yet investment in the nation’s premier need-based grant aid program, the Pell Grant, is failing to keep pace with college costs. As a result, students are taking out larger loans that restrict their choices after college and force them to work long hours in addition to studying for school.

With UC fees set to increase to more than $10,000 next year, we cannot afford for federal aid to remain stagnant any longer.

Thirty-five percent of Bruins use federal aid to pay for school ““ that’s more than any other university in the country. Federal aid isn’t what it used to be, though. In 1977, the Pell Grant covered 77 percent of the cost of college. It now covers only 33 percent, leaving students to either cover the difference with massive loans and graduate in debt or avoid college altogether.

The consequences are extreme. At current rates of degree attainment, the U.S. is projected to fall 16 million college degrees short of meeting workforce needs in 2025. And, graduates with loan debt aren’t able to get ahead.

Too many young adults from lower or middle incomes who play by the rules and do everything right are finding it hard to get into college, stay there and thrive after graduation. Problems associated with student loan debt are only exacerbated in the tough economic climate.

Entering the workforce as a recent graduate during a recession is scary enough without debt, but trying to find a job when you already owe thousands of dollars is downright terrifying.

The federal student aid programs were created to ensure that no qualified student is held back from a college degree because of cost, but they are failing to achieve their goal.

Tackling the problem head-on, President Barack Obama proposed, and the U.S. House of Representatives passed, a game-changing higher education plan that reinvests in and reprioritizes the Pell Grant after years of neglect.

In addition to investing funds toward strengthening community colleges, expanding early education opportunities, simplifying FAFSA and enhancing student-friendly loan programs, the Student Aid and Fiscal Responsibility Act calls for a significant investment in the Pell Grant so that it would cover more of the total cost of attendance and more students would qualify for it. It would also tie the Pell Grant maximum to the rising cost of living, so the grant would reliably increase instead of fluctuating dramatically.

On campus, students are rallying full speed ahead to make sure this bill passes. CALPIRG and the United States Student Association recently held a “Raising Pell Week of Action,” getting hundreds of students to call their senators, add their name and testimonial to a Student Debt Yearbook and add a personalized brick to a real-life Wall of Debt.

In addition to the students who took action in that week, the thousands of students who have pledged $5 a quarter to the California Public Interest Research Group are funding advocates who are working full-time in Washington, D.C., to lobby for the bill on behalf of students. CALPIRG is a statewide student-run organization that trains and empowers students to work on public interest issues like college affordability. To get involved, students can visit calpirgstudents.org.

The United States Student Association is the oldest and largest college student organization in the country, serving as the official voice of all students in the Department of Education and on Capitol Hill.

Through the work of the Undergraduate Students Association Council’s External Vice President’s Office and as a founding member and direct member of USSA, UCLA plays a crucial role. Students gained a huge victory with the passage of the House version (H.R. 3221) by a vote of 253-171.

The USAC EVP office has made SAFRA a priority, campaigning to pass a similar Senate version with a week of action last week titled “Education Makes Cents (Sense),” with events including a teach-in, a call-in to our senators Wednesday at 5 p.m., and a student and media press conference Thursday at noon.

Please stand in solidarity with thousands of students across the country and get more information at usstudents.org or e-mail

[email protected] to get involved on our campus.

Students are doing our part, but we can only do so much. The Senate should pass this bill quickly, before the growing debt wall stops more students in their tracks.

<i>Dobjensky is a fourth-year political science student and chair of CALPIRG at UCLA and CALPIRG’s Statewide Student Board. Li is a fourth-year history student, external vice president of USAC, a board member for the University of California Student Association and chair of the Golden Pacific Region for the United States Students Association Board of Directors. Lacques is a fourth-year sociology student, chair of the USSA’s National People of Color Student Coalition and is USAC EVP Office’s national affairs director.</i>