April 2, 2012--The Ryan Budget
The budget promulgated last week by Congressman Paul Ryan which was quickly approved by Republicans in the House of Representatives and then instantly endorsed by Mitt Romney will not only turn Medicare into a voucher system that will cost millions of seniors thousands of out-of-pocket dollars if it ever became law, but largely unnoticed or commented upon are the draconian cuts in Pell grants that have for decades enabled low-income students to attend college.
More than 1 million students would lose Pell grants entirely over the next 10 years under the Ryan budget, according to an analysis by the non-partisan Education Trust.
The Ryan plan would chop away at Pell grant eligibility, thereby reducing their total budget by about $200 billion over the next decade; allow the interest rate for federally subsidized Stafford loans to double; end student loan interest subsidies for students still in college; and make Pell spending discretionary—instead of mandatory—allowing further cuts down the line.
Pell grants, the largest source of federal financial aid, currently help more than 9 million students to afford college. Following last year's budget standoffs, next year's maximum Pell grant of $5,645 will cover just one-third of the average cost of college—the smallest share ever.
And it gets worse. Sixty percent of students who receive Pell grants also take out Stafford loans—twice the rate for college students overall—so they will be doubly hit by the Ryan cuts: In addition to receiving less Pell money, they would have to start paying interest on their loans while still in college.
Once again I cannot resist bringing up President Eisenhower. Even during the 1950s, at the height of the Cold War, when we and Russia on numerous occasions faced the prospect of a nuclear exchange, in his budgetary struggles with Congress, when he tried to get them to appropriate money for school construction (his GOP colleagues refused to do so), to make his case, Eisenhower--the former general who led allied forces during World War II--argued that money spend to improve education was even more important to national security than dollars allocated to defense.
As then, Republicans such as Ryan and Romney still don't get it.
More than 1 million students would lose Pell grants entirely over the next 10 years under the Ryan budget, according to an analysis by the non-partisan Education Trust.
The Ryan plan would chop away at Pell grant eligibility, thereby reducing their total budget by about $200 billion over the next decade; allow the interest rate for federally subsidized Stafford loans to double; end student loan interest subsidies for students still in college; and make Pell spending discretionary—instead of mandatory—allowing further cuts down the line.
Pell grants, the largest source of federal financial aid, currently help more than 9 million students to afford college. Following last year's budget standoffs, next year's maximum Pell grant of $5,645 will cover just one-third of the average cost of college—the smallest share ever.
And it gets worse. Sixty percent of students who receive Pell grants also take out Stafford loans—twice the rate for college students overall—so they will be doubly hit by the Ryan cuts: In addition to receiving less Pell money, they would have to start paying interest on their loans while still in college.
Once again I cannot resist bringing up President Eisenhower. Even during the 1950s, at the height of the Cold War, when we and Russia on numerous occasions faced the prospect of a nuclear exchange, in his budgetary struggles with Congress, when he tried to get them to appropriate money for school construction (his GOP colleagues refused to do so), to make his case, Eisenhower--the former general who led allied forces during World War II--argued that money spend to improve education was even more important to national security than dollars allocated to defense.
As then, Republicans such as Ryan and Romney still don't get it.
posted by Steven Zwerling at
6:12 AM
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