A House federal budget proposal, released last month, would freeze the maximum Pell Grant award for the next 10 years.
The Fiscal Year 2016 House budget resolution claims the Pell Grant program faces a deficit in the near future that cannot be solved with temporary fixes such as annual spending increases. It calls the increases in funding to the program under President Barack Obama unsustainable.
Contrary to Congress’ plan, Obama’s proposal released in February keeps discretionary spending on Pell Grants at its current level and increases the maximum award for 2016-2017 to $5,915 from $5,775 in the previous year.
The budget also calls for Pell Grants to be awarded to those “who need the most assistance,” arguing increases in eligibility to higher-income students have diverted aid.
The Pell Grant is a federal program that provides grants to undergraduate students who demonstrate need. The program provided more than 8 million students with aid in the current fiscal year, according to the Federal Education Budget Project.
The Pell Grant proposals are part of the budget’s attempts to cut overall government spending and balance the budget within 10 years.
For the 2013-2014 award year, from July 1 to June 30, 38 percent of UCLA undergraduate students received Pell Grants, with an average grant per student of $4,048. The federal government awarded UCLA students $43 million in Pell Grants last year.
Lindsey Burke, an education researcher at The Heritage Foundation, a conservative think tank, said she thinks allocating more federal funding to Pell Grants does not address why the cost of college has gone up exponentially over the last few decades.
“Today there is a much lower percentage of students completing college than in the 1970s,” she said. “The system as it is currently set up cannot meet their needs.”
The United States Student Association and other student groups criticized Congress’ proposal after it was released, saying it unfairly targets students.
Maxwell Love, president of the USSA, said while Congress’ budget proposal doesn’t explicitly call for a cut in Pell Grant funding, it would make funding entirely discretionary. This makes the program vulnerable to cuts in the future, he said.
“We have been told on the Senate Education Committee that this will lead to a reduced maximum Pell Grant award,” he said. “Young people are going to be affected by those cuts in such a dramatic way.”
Some students from USSA and other organizations were arrested March 18 for protesting at the Senate Budget Committee hearing. More than 200 students, including more than a dozen from UCLA, protested the proposal last weekend.
Jeulian Tolentino, a second-year physiological science student, said he receives an annual Pell Grant payout of about $3,500 which helps him pay for tuition and housing. It would discourage him from continuing his studies at UCLA if his award were decreased, he said.
The House resolution serves as a guideline for how Congress wishes to spend money. Congress usually votes on spending bills by August, and conference committees finalize them in September.
After Congress votes on spending bills, it sends them to the president for his signature before the new fiscal year begins Oct. 1.