Like most things, education is becoming more expensive.
For those of us with humble roots and little to no parental patronage, scaling the social strata is becoming an increasingly costly proposition.
This is where the Pell Grant comes in.
Unbeknownst to most of its recipients, the federal government’s largest grant program has gone through a series of changes and now finds itself on the chopping block again.
Setting the stage for conservatives’ slash-happy budgetary battle with President Obama this fall, House Republicans have unveiled a spending bill that will fund the Department of Education along with the Departments of Labor and Health and Human Services.
In a budget proposal, which was issued earlier this week, Republicans proposed cutting funding for the Federal Pell Grant along with aid bound for minority serving schools.
For those fortunate enough not to know what a Pell Grant is, the grant is a semesterly stipend issued by the federal government to cover exact costs of education for families with financial need as determined by the FAFSA.
While the bill will maintain the maximum Pell Grant
appropriation, it trims eligibility and reduces the number of years students can receive the grant.
Overall, the Department of Education would see a $2.4 billion decrease, according to the American Council on Education.
The bill can be seen as a list of demands, as House Republicans will likely roll it into a larger spending measure to finance a number of spending measures.
What’s troubling about this is many, myself included, thought Pell Grants were safe from further cutting following the great debt ceiling debacle of 2011.
There is undoubtedly a culture of cut in Washington, best evidenced by other sections of the same bill that completely cut funding to Title X of the Public Health Service Act, which provides family planning services to more than 5 million citizens, according to the Department of Health and Human Services.
But I must question our priorities when Pell Grants and family planning are at the top of a weak list of reforms.
Republican leadership said the bill will cut “wasteful