Year-round Pell Grants pondered
By Tami Vuong
March 16, 2004 9:00 p.m.
For undergraduate students receiving federal financial aid,
year-round availability of funds may become a viable option in the
future.
The Congressional Committee on Health, Education, Labor and
Pensions gathered in a hearing last week to address the benefits of
year-round college and how the federal government can adjust its
financial aid policies to encourage students dependent on federal
aid to partake in a 12-month calendar of instruction.
The hearing’s panel members are those expected to initiate
legislation reauthorizing the Higher Education Act, which currently
authorizes a majority of federal student funding programs.
A significant alteration to the act, lobbied for by the
University of California at the hearing, would allot Pell Grant and
Stafford Loan eligibility year-round.
Pell Grants, primarily bestowed on undergraduate students
demonstrating exceptional financial need, are usually exhausted
during the nine-month academic year.
The proposed change would increase the annual amount of aid a
student is eligible to receive. This change does not mean students
will receive a greater total amount of aid for the full duration of
their education, but that they may be able to receive their funds
earlier.
The UC system currently enrolls nearly 50,000 students who
receive Pell Grants, about one-third of all undergraduates at the
eight UC campuses that are currently open. UCLA has approximately
9,000 students receiving Pell grants.
Margaret Heisel, associate to the vice president and executive
director of admissions and outreach at the UC Office of the
President, was the UC spokeswoman at the hearing. She testified in
favor of year-round Pell Grants, citing benefits to both students
and taxpayers.
Heisel said increased year-round enrollment is one way the UC
could respond to the phenomenal growth in postsecondary education,
known as “Tidal Wave II.” More access to summer classes
would help alleviate the rising strain on instruction during the
traditional academic year.
Since 2001, when UC summer instruction started receiving state
subsidies equivalent to the subsidies given during the regular
academic year, summer enrollment doubled. A third of UC students
took summer courses during the summer of 2003.
But Heisel said that while the UC system offers state and
institutional financial aid during the summer, disadvantaged
students experience difficulty enrolling in summer courses without
federal assistance.
According to Heisel, the UC currently “enrolls a higher
percentage of low-income students in proportion to its overall
enrollment than any other flagship university.”
UCLA has greatest percentage of low-income students of all the
UC campuses, said Ronald Johnson, UCLA director of financial
aid.
The UC feels that giving earlier access to federal funds
facilitates a student’s ability to complete a degree in three
years, which would lessen housing and transportation costs incurred
from an additional school year and allow students to start their
careers more quickly.
Johnson said year-round Pell Grants would be very positive for
students. UCLA has sought year-round Pell Grants ever since the
university started offering a year-round schedule to students.
Otherwise, students run short of their academic funds for a portion
of the year.
“It is very essential to have year-round Pell Grants as
not to put students at a disadvantage,” said Johnson. He
added that year-round Pell Grants would “optimize both campus
resources and physical resources.”
Fourth-year history student and Pell Grant recipient Fernando
Villasenor said he thinks students will gain from year-round Pell
Grants.
“I think it will be beneficial for those students that are
in a situation in which taking the grants and finishing earlier
will greatly help them financially,” Villasenor said.
Sen. Lamar Alexander, R-Tenn., a member of the committee who
headed the hearing, supports investigating the benefits of a
year-round college calendar and the role of the federal government
to support the transition.
“Higher education is America’s secret weapon for job
growth. This hearing is to make sure we are using our secret weapon
most efficiently so that it operates with the highest possible
number of qualified students,” said Alexander in his opening
statement.
Michelle Rodriguez, a representative of Alexander, said the
committee and the senator are still in the preliminary states of
reviewing the issues presented to the panel.
