President Obama is proposing to cut billions of dollars from the Pell Grant program, making it harder for kids from poor families to attend college.
President Barack Obama’s budget plan would cut $100 billion from Pell Grants and other higher education programs over a decade through belt-tightening and use the savings to keep the maximum college financial aid award at $5,550, an administration official said.
Nearly $90 billion of the projected savings would be achieved through two changes, said the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity ahead of Monday’s release of Obama’s 2012 budget. The spending plan applies to the budget year that begins Oct. 1.
Congress would have to approve both changes.
The first proposal would end the “year-round Pell” policy that let students collect two grants in a calendar year, with the second grant used for summer school. The official said the costs exceeded expectations and there was little evidence that students earn their degrees any faster. The change would save $8 billion next year and $60 billion over a decade, the official said.
A second proposal would reduce loan subsidies for graduate and professional students. That would free $2 billion next year and save $29 billion over 10 years, according to the official.
I don’t know enough about the ins and outs of the process to have any firm opinion on this. Offhand, the proposals sound reasonable enough: Target student aid to those students in greatest need and eliminate programs that aren’t achieving intended goals, especially if they’re very expensive.
But this is one of those rare times when the hack charge is true: Imagine the reaction if a Republican administration were proposing this. It would, naturally, be seen as proof that Republicans hate the poor and don’t value education.
