U.S. House of Representatives votes to lower Pell Grant

The U.S. Senate will soon vote on a proposed 15 percent cut to the Pell Grant, a financial award to low-income students, which 1,170 Truman students currently qualify for.

The U.S. House of Representatives passed a bill Feb. 19 to cut the Pell Grant awarded to each student from the current $5,550 to $4,705 for the 2011-2012 academic year, said Kathy Elsea, director of Financial Aid.

A total of approximately $4 million was granted to Truman students through the Pell Grant this year, she said.

This cut lowers the amount of money low-income students would receive through the Pell Grant, Elsea said.

The federal Pell Grant does not need to be repaid and goes to the highest need students. Students must file the Free Application for Federal Student Aid to determine eligibility, she said.

"Cutting the Pell chart would be really bad," Elsea said. "For quite a few years, the Pell Grant hasn't even paid the full cost of tuition. A student receiving the maximum grant is not even receiving enough money to cover tuition, much less additional fees such as books or room and board."

Decreasing the budget of the Pell Grant would be hard on students given the reduction of state funding that also is in effect, Elsea said. The Access Missouri program was less this year than it was the year before, she said.   

However, Elsea explained other options aside from cutting the budget of the Pell Grant. Currently, eligible students might receive the Pell Grant for the academic year and an additional smaller grant for the summer session, she said. President Barack Obama proposed to cut the additional summer grant in order to keep the maximum Pell Grant at $5,550, she said.

"Two-hundred-twenty-six students received Pell Grants in the summer this year for a total of $225,570," Elsea said. "So some of our students definitely utilize [the Pell Grant] in the summer."

If the Pell Grant given for the summer session is taken away, it would not take effect until summer 2012.

Sophomore Evan Richardson receives $2,000 from the Pell Grant and if his grant is reduced it will affect him financially.

"Two-thousand dollars a year is a pretty big chunk with Truman's tuition," Richardson said. "I really don't have any other source of income other than a minimum wage job, so I rather like the $2,000 I'm getting."

According to the National Association of Student Financial Aid Administrators, the U.S. House of Representatives made their decision by passing the H.R. 1 bill with 235 votes for to 189 votes against the cut, and the bill will be voted on by the Senate.

"Education funding is important," Paul Floca, communication director for Congressman Blaine Luetkemeyer said. "We are in a budget crisis right now so a lot of tough decisions are going to have to be made."