Draconian cuts to student aid approved by a House Appropriations subcommittee threaten the futures of millions of current and prospective college students.
Helping bright and hard-working low- and middle-income students access a postsecondary education and earn the credential they need for a good-paying job has always had bipartisan support in Congress. The vast majority of lawmakers don’t want to cut off vital and effective aid programs that these students need to reach their goals.
But that is just what the House Appropriations subcommittee overseeing education funding did last month in approving a fiscal 2024 Labor-HHS-Education spending bill that eliminates two critical student financial aid programs: Federal Work-Study (FWS) and Federal Supplemental Educational Opportunity Grants (FSEOG). The bill also cuts a number of other programs and holds the maximum Pell Grant award to its current, insufficient level of $7,395.
More than 650,000 students work on-campus jobs via the FWS program, which teaches the value of work and helps students be a part of the campus community while better balancing work with their studies by not having to commute off campus. That in turn increases degree completion rates. More than 1.6 million students receive FSEOG funds, which provides up to $4,000 in addition to Pell Grants and other aid so that students do not have to borrow more money or work off campus. Colleges and universities match the federal money in both of these programs and then distribute it to students in greatest need of such assistance.
One of the reasons FSEOG is so important is because the maximum award for recipients of the Pell Grant, the nation’s foundational investment in higher education that helps more than 6 million students annually attend and complete college, is badly in need of further increases. The higher education community has been informing lawmakers for several years about the need to raise the maximum Pell award to $13,000. Over the past two fiscal years, that effort has paid off, with support both from the Biden administration and members of both parties in Congress, with the maximum award boosted by $900.
But if Congress eliminates FWS and FSEOG, while failing to increase the maximum Pell Grant award, students will either have to drop out, never start, or will borrow too much to gain an education that evidence shows improves an individual’s financial future, personal well-being and civic engagement.
This misguided proposal should be reshaped by the full House Committee on Appropriations when Congress reconvenes in September. My organization and more than two dozen other higher education associations have called on the full House Committee on Appropriations to reject these cuts and increase opportunity for our nation’s college students.
Students are better served by a corresponding Senate education appropriations bill that was approved before the August recess on a bipartisan basis, 26-2, by the full Senate Committee on Appropriations.
The Senate bill is far from ideal: It still cuts FWS and FSEOG by $10 million each, and it only increases the maximum Pell Grant award by $250. That would stall the progress we need, just as data shows that student persistence and retention rates have returned to pre-pandemic levels. Despite that, we know that many low- and middle-income students and families are still struggling and we need to improve college-going and completion rates overall.
Lawmakers will be hearing from the higher education community, including presidents and chancellors from colleges and universities that serve their constituents, over the August recess. Our message is simple: The Senate education bill should be a floor, not a ceiling. Don’t dash opportunity for a college education for so many students.
Ted Mitchell is president of the American Council on Education (ACE), the major coordinating body for the nation’s colleges and universities.