President Bush proposed comprehensive reforms in the Pell Grant
program last week to finance a new grant program for college
students studying math and science, causing some higher education
organizations to be concerned about the initiative’s scope
and cost.
If approved, the plan will create a $100 million annual program
to distribute 20,000 grants to low-income college students with an
emphasis on math and science. Some organizations are uneasy at the
prospect of redistributing money for only a select group of
students.
In a speech last Tuesday at South Arkansas Community College,
Bush said the program, called the Presidential Math and Science
Scholars Fund, is vital to providing students with the necessary
skills to fill the jobs in a changing workforce.
“See, a new skill set is necessary to fill the new
jobs,” Bush said.
The program requires congressional approval before it can be
implemented.
Some higher education organizations are worried the program will
prioritize worker training over students’ financial
needs.
“It’s not clear if that is going to be a slippery
slope for taking away all need-based aid,” said Daniel
Kaufman, a spokesman for the National Education Association.
“It raises some concern on our part,” he said.
Rich Harpel, director of federal relations for the National
Association of State Universities and Land-Grant Colleges,
expressed some uneasiness over the program’s potential
beneficiaries, but said the program has not been flushed out enough
to really determine its value.
The program would not require any increase in government
spending because it would be jointly financed through private
sources and by revising the distribution procedure for Pell Grants,
according to a White House statement.
“Currently, there is no limit on the number of years an
individual can receive a Pell Grant to help pay for an
undergraduate degree,” the statement continued.
The bill proposes an eight-year limit for students pursuing a
four-year degree and a four-year limit for students pursuing a
two-year degree.
Pell Grants are the main source of federal grant money for
college students.
“When it was first created, it covered almost all the cost
of education,” Kaufman said of the Pell Grant program.
But he added that as tuition has risen at schools around the
country, “the Pell Grant program has not kept pace with
that.”
Any changes in Pell Grant distribution generate anxiety because
need-based grants are vital for many low- and middle-income
students. The average grant is about $2,400 a year.
The $100 million price tag of the Presidential Math and Science
Scholars Fund would be evenly split between public and private
sectors, Bush said.
“Fifty million dollars of federal money matched by $50
million in the private sector ““ we’ll be able to raise
that,” Bush said.
Kaufman said the plan to pay through private sources is
“good in theory,” but such sources may be difficult to
find in the current, uncertain economy.
The refroms would prioritize funds for math and science
students, but it is unclear how those students receiving grants
will be affected if they change majors to other areas of study.
This program marks a change for the Bush administration, which
has focused much of its education policy on primary and secondary
education with the No Child Left Behind Act.
Bush’s speech centered on his initiatives to strengthen
the workforce in the United States, deflecting criticism about his
limited success in creating new jobs.
He said the economy, which has gained 750,000 jobs in the past
eight months, is visibly improving.
“It’s hard to know exactly what’s behind every
initiative,” Kaufman said of the program’s purpose and
timing. “There may be some political motives behind
it.”
In addition to the $5,000 in grants, the president also proposed
reforms in the testing procedure for high school students in an
effort to create more well-prepared workers. This plan would
require high school seniors to take new standardized tests in
English and math.