The U.S. House of Representatives passed a bill last month to amend the federal welfare law with provisions that some believe would make it more difficult for welfare recipients to attend college.
The H.R. IV bill would increase the number of work hours required of welfare recipients each week from 30 to 40. It would also limit the amount of time they could attend college in any 24-month period. The current law allows a recipient 12 months of education, but the new revisions would cut that time to four months. This includes all work-related education or training for a specific job.
However, the legislation does not state whether adult basic and postsecondary education would qualify. Since the bill does not expressly permit including these types of education, critics fear that states would hesitate to allow it.
Gary Sandefur, University of Wisconsin sociology professor, thinks the modifications to the welfare law could backfire. He said education is key to reducing welfare recipients and will benefit society in the long run.
“I think one of the best things that we can do to help people avoid using welfare and [get] off of welfare is to use as much education as they can get,” Sandefur said.
In addition, the UW Admissions Office said the new bill would not affect admissions, because they treat each applicant equally. However, if the new bill goes into effect, it would be harder for low-socioeconomic students to stay in college. Also, their ability to be retained would be affected.
With Wisconsin’s current state-budget problems, UW’s financial-aid office said it would be hard for the university to provide extra funds for financial assistance.
“Our office is committed to helping students from all backgrounds, especially the needy students,” Associate Director of Student Financial Services Susan Fischer said. “But I wouldn’t begin to [predict] whether new funds would be forthcoming for this group when other funds look like they’re being cut.”
Since financial aid at UW is mostly federal, it makes it difficult for the financial-aid office to provide special services and assistance to welfare students. Getting off of welfare and relying completely on financial aid to get a higher education is not much of an alternative.
“Financial aid will certainly not replace what they’ll lose in welfare benefits,” Fischer said.
The House bill, which is supported by President Bush, is an extension of a 1996 law that gave each state a lump sum of funds for welfare and the discretion to run its own welfare program. Statistics show that the law cut the number of welfare recipients by 59 percent, from 12.2 million in 1996 to 5 million in 2002. Republicans claim the new bill would reduce the number even more.
“I think we’re in an era now where the Congress and many American people are stingy in what they’re willing to do to help the low-income population,” Sandefur said. “I don’t really see much benefits coming from this.”
The bill went through several committees before it passed in the House, 230 to 192, Feb. 13, 2003, generally along party lines. The Senate received the resolution and referred it to the Committee of Finance, where it now sits.
