Seven UCLA students traveled to Washington, D.C., with UCLA’s Federal Relations Office on Monday to advocate for a consistent level of funding for Pell Grants and federal loans.
The office, which is a part of UCLA Government and Community Relations, organized the event, called UC Day in D.C., which allowed UCLA students, recent graduates and representatives from the UCLA Financial Aid Office to travel to Washington, D.C. The group returned to UCLA Wednesday.
Sarah Ervin, assistant director for UCLA’s Federal Relations Office, said the UC Day in D.C. program was started at UCLA in 2001 and spread to all UC campuses in 2011.
Ervin said the UC advocates met with California’s congressional delegation and other congressional members who are UCLA alumni.
Every year, UCLA’s Federal Relations Office picks an important campus issue that is also being discussed in Congress, Ervin said. She added that the UCLA delegation chose to talk about federal financial aid this year because the House of Representatives recently passed a budget resolution that would freeze the maximum Pell Grant award, a federal financial aid package awarded to students based on financial need.
“The point of the program is to help members of Congress put a face to the issue,” she said. “We want members of Congress to remember the stories of our delegation when they consider voting on such an important issue.”
Ervin added that in the 2013-2014 academic year, more than 52 percent of UCLA undergraduates received need-based scholarships or aid, including the 36 percent or students who received federal Pell Grants.
Breana Weaver, a fourth-year political science and communications studies student who participated in the program, said that coming from a low-income and single-parent household made her want to participate in the program and help other students who struggle to pay for college.
“My mom was still paying off her debts from student loans when I started thinking about going to college,” Weaver said. “There was no way I would put that extra burden of loans on her.”
Susan Sorenson, a fourth-year nursing student who also participated in the program, said she doesn’t think she could have attended UCLA if she didn’t receive a Pell Grant.
“Over the past two days, we’ve heard so many stories about students who owe their college education and their future to federal financial aid,” Sorenson said. “I think that this reinforces the critical nature of the issue.”
Sorenson added that she likes that the program gives her the opportunity to directly contact legislators.
“I think UCLA students should participate in the program (to) advocate for issues that they are passionate about,” Sorenson said.