Federal Pell Grants could see major cuts

Thursday was the deadline to file the Free Application for Federal Student Aid in order to qualify for the maximum amount of financial aid.

But even students who filed the FAFSA on time may not receive as much as they expected. 

President Obama’s budget proposal, released in mid-February, revealed that Federal Pell Grants may be cut by as much as $100 billion during the next 10 years.

Pell Grants are part of a federal financial aid program that 9.4 million college students rely on each year.

The average yearly Pell Grant is worth more than $5,000 and is considered by many to be the backbone of federal financial aid. Yet it may be subject to a decrease as part of House Resolution 1.

If the bill passed by the U.S. House of Representatives makes it through the Senate deliberation and is approved by Obama, students could see a decrease of up to 15 percent in the amount of their Pell Grant. Students receiving the maximum award of $5,550 would see their grant drop to $4,705, a loss of $845.

IU sophomore Ashley Wever is one of 202,000 students in Indiana who received a Pell Grant last year.

“The amount went up recently, I don’t know why it’s decreasing now as tuition costs are growing,” Wever said. “The government should be driven by education because that’s what people base job requirements on.”

Wever received the maximum award and is also eligible for other grants, but she said she still needs to take out about half of her tuition costs in loans.

“If all my grants get cut, then all I have is loans,” Wever said. “I will have to take the amount that got cut out in loans and then end up paying more back in interest. Either I go into debt, or my family does.”

While Wever said she received a refund check of $970 from the bursar last year, an amount greater than the expected decrease in the Pell Grant, she said the money was still helpful.

“It paid for my books,” Wever said. “If I didn’t have that money, I would just have to forget about those books or only buy the ones I absolutely need. Any other money I get back goes right to paying off my loans. I could be $40,000 in debt by the time I graduate.”

Ball State University sophomore Sara Jones said she does not have the option to rely on loans to cover her tuition.

“My family has bad credit,” Jones said. “And I’m included in that. I can’t get the loans I need to cover my schooling, so I don’t know what I would do without the grants I receive.”

Jones said she currently works two part-time jobs and does not know where she would find the time to pick up another one if her Pell Grant was reduced.

“I have at least another two years until I graduate,” Jones said. “I’m scared that what it would come down to is I would have to drop out and work full time for a while.”

Maralee Clayton, associate director of financial aid at BSU said the Federal Pell Grant is one of the most important programs to help the neediest students at most universities.

Clayton said almost 6,000 students at BSU receive the Pell Grant, but the cut will probably force a majority of the students to rely more on student loans.

Clayton said she is waiting anxiously to find out from the federal government what kind of cuts students can expect so that she can prepare to help them.

“I want to tell all students to make sure they follow through and get their applications in on time,” Clayton said. “That way, they can secure money from other sources as needed.”