Republican Presidential Candidate Mitt Romney’s choice of running mate could not only affect the politically hot topics of healthcare, Medicaid and deficit spending — Romney’s recently chosen Wisconsin Congressman Paul Ryan may also change aid for college students.
Ryan has taken a strong stance on higher education funding, writing in the Wisconsin State Journal in May that colleges raise tuition in response to increased federal aid money as a way to receive more money from students. His proposed budget resolution, which emerged from the U.S. House of Representatives in April, lowered the minimum income level for Pell Grant recipients from $23,000 to $20,000 annually.
More than 5,000 students at the University receive federally funded grants, according to Associate Director of Financial Aid and Scholarships Amy Marix.
For the bottom 20 percent of earners in Louisiana, tuition and room and board for a year of college costs more than their yearly income, said Belinda Davis, University American politics professor.
Davis said Louisiana has one of the lowest levels of state-given, need-based financial scholarships in the South. She called cuts to Pell Grants “devastating for low-income families in Louisiana.”
In his budget plan for 2013, President Barack Obama kept the highest level of traditional Pell Grants, and he reduced grants applied to summer classes to allow only students who did not use all their money during the fall and spring semesters.
The president said he wants to keep education funding in the federal budget, but he has not offered a way to pay for it. In the past four years, the government has cut bank subsidies to help.
The 2013 budget plan calls for less money to pay for Pell Grants than the past two years, more than $36 billion as opposed to more than $41 billion in 2012.
Andrew Delatte, history sophomore, said Pell Grants are unfair because they are based on income instead of academic achievement.
“Anybody hungry enough can put himself though college,” said Delatte, who said he receives TOPS and works to pay for school.
Abigail Daigle, mass communication freshman, said she receives $1,800 worth of Pell Grant funding per year. She said her single mother worked her whole life to send her daughter to college and despite graduating high school with a 4.0 GPA, she still needed help from Pell Grants to attend college.
According to a Gallup Poll released Aug. 15, Romney’s vice presidential pick has thus far raised his approval rating by 1 percent. In past elections, announcing a running mate has brought up the percentage by as much as nine points, according to Gallup.
