Federal budget proposal threatens to eliminate summer Pell Grants, which could shift the cost of graduating on time to UCLA students
By molly montgomery
April 15, 2011 1:59 a.m.
University of California students will not receive additional Pell Grants this summer if President Barack Obama signs the budget deal that passed in the Senate on Thursday.
The bill, which will continue to fund the federal government through the end of 2011, maintained the current maximum Pell Grant award at $5,500, but cut the year-round Pell Grant program, said UC spokesman Christopher Harrington. As of press time, Obama had not signed the bill.
The year-round Pell Grant allows low-income students to apply for a supplemental grant during the summer, Harrington said. That second grant will no longer be available this summer if the budget is signed by the president.
Kelli Fallon, a third-year anthropology student, said she was planning to apply for a summer Pell Grant, but now has to reconsider how she will finance her summer classes.
Her only options are taking out more loans or finding a way to make enough money to cover her summer tuition, she said.
Fallon, who is the chief of staff for the external vice president’s office of the Undergraduate Students Association Council, said she is glad Congress kept the maximum Pell Grant award during the school year. But cutting the year-round Pell Grant option could make summer school attendance more difficult for many low-income students, she added.
USAC President Jasmine Hill said summer school has become an integral part of education at the UCs because it helps students to graduate on schedule.
Spending was also cut for the National Institute of Health, one of the main federal agencies that funds biomedical research at the UC, Harrington said. However, the cut was not as extensive as previous bills considered in the House.
Though the impact of those cuts to research at the UC is unclear, they will be limited, Harrington said.
Harrington said the UC hopes to see investment in research and in the protection of education programs such as the Pell Grant in the next budget cycle.
Promoting research fosters innovation which contributes to economic growth, Harrington said.
