Part-time students would lose access to Pell Grants under a bill proposed by House Republicans. The maximum grant would remain at $5,550, reports Community College Times.
Rep. Denny Rehberg (R-Mont.), chair of the Labor, Education, Health and Human Services Appropriations Subcommittee, proposes to reduce Pell costs by $2.3 billion in fiscal 2012 by limiting the lifetime eligibility for Pell Grants to 12 semesters, down from 18, and denying grants to students who lack a high school diploma or GED. In addition, students with a family income above $15,000 would be expected to contribute something to the cost of their education; the current line is drawn at $30,000.
Rep. Rosa DeLauro (D-Conn.), said working students would lose hundreds of dollars in grant aid.
“That seems exactly the wrong step to be taking when so many people are relying on Pell Grants to go back to school or stay in school to gain the education and skills they need for jobs in the new economy,” she said.
Cutting off part-timers will affect many community college students.
In award year 2009-10, more than half of the 497,414 half-time students receiving Pell Grants attended community colleges. Of the 48,300 students receiving Pell who attended less than half time, 32,802 were community college students.
The cost of the Pell program doubled in two years to reach $30 billion, notes Community College Times. The number of Pell recipients grew by 46 percent from 5.5 million in 2007-08 to more than 8 million students two years later.
The proposed changes are likely to raise graduation rates, which are believed to be low for Pell recipients. (Amazingly, the Education Department doesn’t collect Pell completion data.) Part-timers are much less likely to complete a certificate or degree, concludes a new Complete College America report, Time is the Enemy. In addition, students with neither a diploma or the GED typically start in low-level remedial classes — a “Bermuda Triangle” — and don’t advance to college-level classes, much less to a credential.
A Senate appropriations bill passed earlier in September preserves the Pell maximum with no changes to eligiblity. A compromise will be negotiated.
The House appropriations bill also would eliminate or reduce funding for colleges that predominantly serve Native Americans, Alaska natives, native Hawaiians, Asian-Americans and Pacific Islanders, Hispanics and blacks.
Comments & Trackbacks (1) | Post a Comment
at 6:47 am
[...] Part-time students would lose eligibility for Pell Grants under a bill proposed by House Republicans. [...]