Young voters were the only age group that backed John Kerry on Election Day. Yesterday, it seemed Bush got his revenge on those of them in college.
A change in eligibility for Pell Grants to be announced Thursday by the Department of Education would cut some 90,000 students from the rolls of recipients and affect more than 1 million others, an education advocate says.
The department will announce the change — the first in 15 years — in the Federal Register, said Terry Hartle, senior vice president of the American Council on Education, a trade association representing 2,000 public and private colleges and universities.
In addition to those who will lose their grants completely, “we estimate about 1.3 million students will see reductions in their grants from $100 to $300 per year,” he said.
Unfortunately, the changes will have an effect that goes beyond just Pell Grants.
Beyond the implications for Pell Grants, the new rules are expected to have a domino effect across almost every type of financial aid, tightening access to billions of dollars in state and institutional grants and, in turn, increasing the reliance on loans to pay for college. Taken together, many education experts say, the consequences for the nation’s core financial aid programs are among the most substantial in a decade.
“This is the first time in at least 10 years where there’s been a significant reduction for this magnitude of students,” said Brian K. Fitzgerald, director of the Advisory Committee on Student Financial Assistance, which was created by Congress to advise the lawmakers on financial aid. It was this committee that performed the other analysis.
This isn’t exactly the education policy Bush outlined during the campaign. My friend Poppy noted this quote from the third presidential debate:
Got four more years, I’ve got more to do to continue to raise standards, to continue to reward teachers and school districts that are working, to emphasize math and science in the classrooms, to continue to expand Pell Grants to make sure that people have an opportunity to start their career with a college diploma (emphasis added).
That, of course, came at the height of the campaign when the eyes of the nation were upon him. A couple of days before Christmas, however, is a different matter entirely.