Obama Budget Targets Pell Grant Funding

The proposed budget by President Obama is going to include cutting $100 billion dollars from the program offering Federal Pell Grants. It will also cut funds from various other programs promoting higher education. The proposal also states that the savings will be there to ensure each student is able to get the maximum award per year if they qualify – which is $5,500 per school year.

The proposed changes would significantly impact two areas of Pell Grants. Only one Pell Grant per year would be awarded. Students could either qualify for one for the summer or the normal academic year. The savings would be $8 billion for the first year and then over the next 10 years $60 billion.

The other major change proposed will affect those students in professional or graduate school. They will find that the loan amounts and subsidies are reduced. The government pays the interest due on certain loans for such students until they are out of school. Part of the proposal is that the interest would no longer be paid. Instead, it would accrue while the students are in school. The savings would be $2 billion for the first year and then over the next 10 years a savings of $29 billion.

The commitment to continuing to offer the Pell Grant so that students can attend college is very important. The cut backs are considered to be necessary in order to help with budgeting concerns. The other part of that goal is to strive to make college more affordable for all students. Investing in education is very important, and the government will continue to do so in spite of proposed budget changes.