KPLU Local News
(2010-03-25)
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Financial aid offices at universities and colleges in the U.S. would be affected by legislation that is part of the health care 'reconciliation' package in Congress.
AP Photo.
Annie Jansen feels so strongly that college students need more financial aid that she flew across the country to tell her representatives. The senior at Western Washington University is lobbying for a provision in the health care amendment package that would increase Pell Grants for needy students.
The grants would go up by as much as $200 next year and grow even more after that.
Jansen says it might not sound like a lot of money, but it's a huge help.
"It could mean the difference between having books and not," she says.
The money would come at a critical time, she says. Tuition at Washington's public universities and community colleges jumped this year and is expected to swell again next year.
"The federal government can take up the slack of the states where they're, in the opinion of students, failing to provide an education that's affordable," Jansen says.
More than a quarter of students at big schools like the University of Washington and Washington State University qualify for Pell Grants.
The Obama administration wants to increase the aid by cutting banks out of the federal loan process. Right now, the government gives banks big subsidies to administer the loans.
If the government doesn't take the subsidy money back, it might have to cut Pell Grants. The program has been overwhelmed since the economy took a dive.
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