Robbing Peter to pay Paul - reauthorizing the higher education act

Black Issues in Higher Education, Oct 2, 1997 by Charles Dervarics

Preserving the Grants

Twenty years ago, nearly 80 percent of federal aid to college students came in the form of grants. Today, grants account for only about half that level, with loans now representing the majority of aid.

Preserving - and enhancing - grants is the main focus of many African Americans in HEA reauthorization, including leaders at Paine College in Augusta, Georgia. Dr. Shirley A.R. Lewis, the college's president, provided this breakdown on the 661 students enrolled at Paine in 1994-95:

* 510, or more than 70 percent, received Pell Grants;

* 280, or more than 40 percent, received work/study aid; and

* 150, or more than 20 percent, received Supplemental Educational Opportunity Grants, another federal grant program that targets needy students.

These students received more than $1.5 million in grant aid, just barely more than the $1.4 million they took out in student loans. Such statistics are common among many College Fund/UNCF institutions, Lewis says.

"While UNCF student reliance on the Pell Grant program is undeniable, the increasing dependence of UNCF students on the Stafford Loan program and other student loans to pay for college is frightening," the Georgian adds.

That's one reason the College Fund/ UNCF wants to protect and expand grant aid - including at least a $600 increase in the maximum Pell Grant in the next two years, plus an inflation adjustment or link to the Consumer Price Index thereafter.

Colleges with a large number of Pell Grant recipients also should automatically get a Student Support Services Grant under the TRIO program to help these students succeed in and finish college, proponents argue.

Looking to the Future

During reauthorization, Congress will examine other issues - including the future of all TRIO programs that seek to recruit and retain low-income, first-generation students in college; student loan default management; and eligibility of part-time and independent students for federal aid. But few congressional leaders are talking dollar figures yet for any programs.

One who has discussed specific funding levels, Rep. William Clay (D-Mo.), wants substantially more for education. Clay, a CBC member, has introduced legislation to increase the maximum Pell Grant to $4,500 by 2002, a 50-percent increase over four years. His bill also would continue the exemption from loan-default sanctions currently available to HBCUs.

In the Senate, Minnesota's Wellstone has proposed a gradual move to a $5,000 Pell Grant.

"My view is that the most fair and effective way to improve college access and affordability for low-income families is through strengthening the Pell Grant program," Clay says.

Many researchers bear out Clay's assertions. Tax credits tend to help those most likely to go to college anyway and provide less help to those whose attendance may hinge on the amount of federal aid.

"Tax incentives alone will not get the job done," says Ted Freeman, president of the Education Resources Institute, which reviewed the issue with the Institute on Higher Education Policy in a report earlier this year.