Budget raises tuition costs, but not financial aid awards

Thursday, February 25, 1999

Budget raises tuition costs, but not financial aid awards

EDUCATION: Opponents fear that grants will not be enough

to compensate for higher fees

By Anand Patel

Daily Bruin Contributor

Students in financial need may have to look for additional aid
if President Clinton’s $1.7 trillion budget is passed by
Congress.

Next year, average tuition costs are expected to increase by
4.25 percent nationwide.

But under the current 2000 budget proposal, the Pell grant, a
national grant given to low-income students, will not rise enough
to compensate for these higher fees.

The United States Student Association (USSA), a Washington-based
student lobbying group, is demanding an increase in federal grants.
It argues that in order to offset the hike in tuition, the
government must increase the total amount allocated for the federal
Pell fund.

"The Pell grant is the cornerstone of low-income students’
financial aid packages, and thus it determines whether or not
low-income students can go to college," said USSA President Anthony
Samu.

But Jane Glickman, a spokeswoman for the Department of
Education, said an additional increase in the maximum Pell award is
not possible. The Department of Education recommends higher
education spending to the Clinton administration for the
budget.

"We can’t make Pell grants larger that it already is this year,"
she said. "It’s not financially possible. However, next year we
will try to propose for an additional increase."

USSA anticipated an increase in Pell grant funding in order to
offset the rise in university fees. An excess of $449 million
dollars carried over from last year was hoped to increase the
maximum Pell Grant award by at least $145. Clinton’s recent budget
proposal, however, shows an increase of only $125.

"Clinton has budgeted a maximum Pell grant of $3,250 per
student. That does not even match the ratio of increasing tuition
fees. We are asking for a $400 increase,"said Stacy Lee, the
Undergraduate Students Association Council (USAC) president.

"The federal government allots two cents per every tax dollar to
education. USSA is working to increase that amount," she said.

In the past decade there has been a gradual decline in the ratio
of federal grants versus student loans in students’ total financial
aid packages. Lee said students will continue to see subtle cuts in
grants by the Clinton administration.

The White House, however, claims that total Pell fund has
increased substantially since Clinton took office. The maximum Pell
award has risen by about $600 in the past six years, Glickman
said.

"Increasing Pell grants and making the cost of education more
affordable has always been one of President Clinton’s major goals,"
Glickman said.

"Since day one, Clinton and (Richard) Riley (U.S. secretary of
education) have stressed the importance of higher education. They
have made sure that there is no reason that a student with good
grades cannot go to college because of financial need," she
said.

In his annual State of Union address, Clinton praised the larger
number of programs available today to help students pay their way
through college. Clinton believes there are even more and better
opportunities in the current budget proposal.

"Today we can say something we couldn’t say six years ago: with
tax credits and more affordable student loans; with more work-study
grants and more Pell grants; with education IRAs and the new HOPE
Scholarship tax cut that more than five million Americans will
receive this year; we have finally opened the doors of college to
all Americans," Clinton said.

The USSA agrees with Clinton’s decision to increase spending in
these areas (see related story on page 4). In fact, USSA feels that
its influence and pressure had a large role in the increase of
these programs. But it said to compromise the Pell Grant for these
programs will hinder low income students from completing their
college education.

"This shift in priority for grant programs had adversely
affected access to higher education for low-income students and
thus their ability to go to and complete college," Samu said.

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