Higher education nationwide could be affected drastically by the new budget resolutions currently under the review of the U.S. Senate and the House of Representatives for the 2004 fiscal year.
The Senate’s budget proposal is working to counter part of President Bush’s proposed $726 billion tax cut. The new resolution would take $1.8 billion from the original cut and enter the funds into the Pell Grant Program, allowing the total award to be raised $500 to a total of $4,500.
Pell Grants are awarded to low-income students in order to aid in the financing of their education.
Senators Edward M. Kennedy, D-Mass., and Christopher Dodd, D-Conn., were the two main voices heard regarding the possible increase in funding; however, a number of other organizations and single individuals worked for this resolution.
In a recent release, the American Council on Education said it had, “in conjunction with other higher education associations and numerous campus presidents, worked to secure passage of this motion.”
Kennedy argued during deliberations last week that this increase in funding would allow 110,000 Pell Grant recipients to keep their grants and would provide funds to 200,000 new recipients.
The Senate voted unanimously to increase funding for the Pell Grant program.
Although this new resolution appears promising to many lobbyists now pleased over these recommendations, the lingering debate between Congress and the White House over this type of aid is far from settled.
The Bush administration has continuously expressed thoughts against raising the maximum award to students before the program’s budget deficit is paid off. In 2003, the budget allowed for an increase of $50 to the maximum award after President Bush threatened vetoing any budget request that would raise the award beyond the amount it was set at in 2002.
Since the threatened veto, the Bush administration has additionally called for an increase of $1.9 billion in the area of Pell Grant funding. However, this money would go in the direction of ridding the program of debts. The program’s budget would be increased to a total of $12.7 billion, yet students would not see an increase in grants awarded.
While the Senate is trying to increase funding for higher education, the House has in part done the opposite by proposing suggestions to cut and limit funding in certain aspects of the resolution, such as discretionary education expenses.
The Senate budget proposal calls for growth in these expenses, which is similar to the plans within President Bush’s budget proposal. This proposal is scheduled for completion Wednesday, while the House’s budget resolution was passed last week.
Under the House’s resolution, every discretionary program and all mandatory programs unrelated to Homeland Security would receive a 1 percent cut.
In the next few weeks, negotiators from the House and the Senate will convene to establish a compromised budget resolution.
