Bush proposes Pell Grant increase
By Adrienne Lynett
Jan. 18, 2005 9:00 p.m.
President Bush announced a proposal Friday to increase the
maximum Pell Grant by $500 over the next five years, raising the
federal aid program’s ceiling to $4,550.
The funds that Bush claims would close the Pell program’s
current $4.3 billion shortfall over the course of a decade would
come from savings accumulated through a proposed reorganization of
the federal loan program that would make it more “effective
and efficient,” Bush said.
The administration’s proposal was announced amid
controversy that has recently clouded the issue of federal
financial aid. The maximum amount of the Pell Grant, the
government’s primary form of financial aid to lower income
college students, has remained stagnant for the last three years at
$4,050 per year per student, while college tuition costs have
continued to climb.
And on Dec. 23, the administration approved a change in the Pell
Grant eligibility formula, which stripped an estimated 89,000
students of their eligibility for the grant and partially cut aid
for another 1.3 million students.
When asked whether the president’s new proposal will be
enough to make up for the losses sustained by the program after
last month’s formula change, Tom Kiley, a spokesman for Rep.
George Miller, D-Calif., said no.
“It’s not OK to take a step forward and a step
back,” he said.
Others have met Bush’s call for more funding with cautious
optimism.
“While we still must learn the specific details of the
president’s proposal, I applaud the president for his strong
commitment to our nation’s neediest students,” said Tim
McDonough, a spokesman for the American Council on Education.
Should the proposal be approved by Congress, McDonough said, it
would help to “dispel the financial uncertainty that has
surrounded the program from year to year.”
But some of Bush’s critics are skeptical of the proposal,
accusing the president of a poor higher-education funding
record.
“President Bush lacks credibility in education
funding,” Kiley said.
Likewise, Sen. Edward Kennedy, D-Mass., said in a press release,
“President Bush has walked away from all his promises to
raise Pell Grants since his first year in office.”
Kennedy referred to Bush’s vow to ask that Congress
increase the Pell Grant amount to $5,100 while on the 2000
presidential campaign trail in New Hampshire.
Despite his rhetoric, the amount of the grant had seen little
increase, and for the past three years, the grant has stayed at
$4,050 a year.
If this is Bush’s attempt to fulfill that promise, Kiley
said, “it’s four years late.”
“The most important way to move America forward is to
ensure that the doors of college opportunity are open to everyone,
regardless of income,” Kennedy said.
“Bush forgot that golden rule,” he said, when he
failed to go through with his 2000 promise to increase the Pell
Grant amount.
Still, Kiley said, if the Bush administration commits to this
new proposal, “it’s not enough, but it’s a
start.”
While the idea of an increase to the Pell award amount has been
applauded by many, the specifics of Bush’s plan remain
unknown.
Uncertainty about the source of the funding has drawn suspicion,
especially in the wake of the eligibility formula change, which was
estimated to save the government $300 million. In addition,
Bush’s plan to reform the federal student loan program
elicited criticism.
“If they’re taking money out of another student aid
program, that’s not a solution,” Kiley said.
But Bush is committed to promoting and expanding the Pell Grant
program, White House Press Secretary Scott McClellan insisted in a
press briefing on Jan. 14, the day Bush announced the proposal.
“The president has always been a strong supporter of Pell
Grants to help low-income students receive higher education,”
McClellan said. “Pell Grants are key to making sure more
low-income Americans are able to pursue and realize their
dreams.”
President Bush also announced plans to provide Pell Grants to
students year-round in an effort to provide more funding to
students in the State Scholars Program, which encourages high
school students to take a more rigorous curriculum.
