The reauthorization of the Higher Education Act in the U.S. Senate may still have a long way to go after concerns were raised Tuesday that increased government spending on higher education actually has an adverse effect on helping low-income and middle-class students afford college.
At a hearing in the House of Representatives Committee on Education and the Workforce, Dr. Richard K. Vedder, an academic at the American Enterprise Institute and a professor of economics at Ohio University-Athens, said by perpetually increasing the budgets of federal grant and loan programs to colleges and universities, the government is making it easier for colleges to increase student tuition.
Republican leaders in the U.S. House of Representatives introduced a bill in February to renew the HEA, which would increase the authorized level of Pell Grants from $4,050 to $5,800 over the next six years, make Pell Grants available year-round and reduce campus base programs including College Work-Study, Perkins/Stafford loans and Supplemental Education Opportunity Grants. It also would put colleges that consistently raise tuition more than double the rate of inflation on a government watch list.
But Democrats are critical of this proposal, saying it would make college even less affordable for low-income students.
“Bush’s budget wanted to increase Pell Grants by $100, which would be great if that happened, but he also wants to take away grants that are important to low-income and middle-class students on the UW campus,” said University of Wisconsin Senior Special Assistant to the Chancellor Rhonda Norsetter.
The campus-based grants are a concern to some at UW because the new bill would reduce funding for student-assistance programs listed under Title IV, including TRIO and Gear Up.
“Dr. Vedder’s speech only addresses tuition costs, but students must pay for much more, like housing, food and books, and these things aren’t being taken into account,” Norsetter said.
If campus-based programs were reduced, “needy students just [wouldn’t] go to college,” Norsetter said.
According to data from the chancellor’s office, for the 2003-04 school year, 16,000 UW students received financial aid from government programs under the HEA.
Last year, UW received a total of $1.9 billion from the federal government, the state, private sources and student fees. However, 28 percent of UW’s operating budget came from the government, making government the No. 1 source of revenue.
“Although we get funding from outside sources, we sometimes have rules for how we spend it so it doesn’t all go to student-aid programs,” Norsetter said.
According to Gov. Jim Doyle’s press secretary Melanie Fonder, the governor has proposed more money for student financial-aid programs than last year.
“This year, Governor Doyle has proposed more money to financial aid than to the corrections department, which is the first time this has happened in five years,” Fonder said.
The U.S. Senate plans to draft its version of the reauthorization legislation by June, regardless of the budget-reconciliation process, according to the Chronicle of Higher Education.
