2007 Budget Update
It looks like Pell Grants are going to be getting the financial face-lift about which people have been buzzing on Capitol Hill. According to a Jan. 31, 2007 article by Doug Lederman titled “A Pleasant Budget Surprise” that appeared in Inside Higher Ed, the Democrats on Jan. 29, 2007 introduced a joint funding resolution that would raise the maximum Pell Grant by $260.
Lederman reported that the “resolution called for shifting a total of $2.3 billion (out of an overall budget of $463.5 billion) to health, education and labor programs, including an additional $620 million for biomedical research at the National Institutes of Health (to a total of $28.969 billion, a rise of 2.2 percent) and nearly $1 billion more for the Pell Grant Program. The new funds for Pell, which would bring funding for the program to $13.66 billion, would allow the maximum grant for low-income students to rise by $260 to $4,310, which would be the first increase in grant size in five years.”
College Lobbyists Happy
After a year of pushing for an increase in the Pell Grant, college lobbyists are happy to see their efforts culminate in a possible increase in funding. Lederman quoted Pat White, director of federal relations at the Association of American Universities, as saying, “Within the constraints of what the House and Senate leadership and the appropriators were facing, what they were able to do is heroic.” She continued, “With so many other competing priorities, for them to take the longer view and make investments in research and education is, to me, really inspiring.”
Democrats Eliminate Earmarks
So, where is the money coming from to fund this proposed increase in Pell Grants? According to Lederman, “Democrats appear to have come up with the extra funds partly by eliminating most earmarks and partly by moving out of the bill money that the government was planning to spend on military base closings. Republicans derided the latter move, particularly, as a bit of smoke and mirrors magic that will require the government to pay up later, but it wasn’t clear how aggressively Republican members of Congress would fight the Democratic measure.”
The White House will be releasing its budget for 2008 on Feb. 5, 2007. According to the article, there is speculation that the White House budget will also include an increase on Pell Grants but that the funds will be sourced from existing financial aid monies. Lederman wrote, “Speculation has been growing in recent days that the administration will propose a sizable increase in the Pell Grant Program – but that it will do so, in large part, by proposing to shift funds away from other student aid programs, most likely the Supplemental Educational Opportunity Grants Program, which provides additional funds to low-income students, most of whom are Pell recipients.”
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Student Loan Girl