Looking  Ahead ... By 2015, undergraduate enrollment will increase by 15 percent, to almost 20 million students. Many of these new students will be the first in their family to attend college, and 80 percent will be members of racial/ethnic minorities. Unless the federal student aid programs are fully funded, many of these students will not be able to afford the college of their choice.

The House will vote on the FY 2008 education appropriations bill on Wednesday, July 18.

Please call your congressman’s office before Wednesday and ask them to vote YES on H.R. 3043, the FY 2008 Labor-HHS-Education appropriations bill.

Call 800-574-4243 or 202-224-3121 to be connected to your representative’s office and register your support.

What this bill means is:

• The high water mark for student aid funding this year, with a $2 billion investment in the Pell Grant program, which provides for a $390 increase, to $4,700.
• The bill rejects the president’s proposed cuts to SEOG and LEAP. It also increases funding for the TRIO and GEAR UP programs.

Tools and Information
►Alliance Briefs Congressional Staff

Representatives from the Student Aid Alliance recently briefed House and Senate staff on the history of the student aid programs, the basics of student aid, and how student aid really works on a campus. If you missed the briefing, please take a look at some of the advocacy materials provided.

• FY 2008 Alliance Funding Priorities
   
• Financial Aid: A View from the Front
   
• Supplemental Educational Opportunity Grants (SEOG) - Talking Points
   
• Perkins Loans - Talking Points

• Perkins Loans - Fact Sheet

• Leveraging Educational Assistance Partnership Program (LEAP) - Fact Sheet

Alliance Action
►Alliance Calls on Congress to Plug Holes in
President’s Budget for Federal Student Aid

"What this Budget Gives with One Hand,
It Takes Away with the Other"

The budget that was released this week by President Bush contains good news for some college students and an exceptionally high penalty for others. After five consecutive years without an increase in the Pell Grant maximum award, this budget charts a new course. Instead of freezing the maximum again, the president seeks a sizable boost – up to $4,600 – from the $4,310 maximum grant that the Congress has included in the FY 200