I am a single mother of two small children, and I work and go to school full time. Raising both my children on my own, the only way I am able to even attend college is because of federal student aid. I have gone to Iowa Central Community College and I now attend Buena Vista University. Due to my Federal Pell Grant and federal student loans, I am able to attend college and make a better life for my children and me. I am not a statistic, a single mom living below the poverty level, doing nothing with her life. I am also teaching my children responsibility and showing them that their mother is doing something that will give them a stable life. I want them to learn that no matter what situation comes at them, they can do anything.

I am currently in my twenties, raising my two teenage sisters. If my aid is cut this year, I will not be able to attend Saint Joseph’s University next year, and work towards completing my degree. Right now, I am working very hard to reach my goals; utilizing the Federal Pell Grant has allowed me to set an example for my siblings of what a college career entails. I have a mother who has been diagnosed with H.I.V. and a father who died of AIDS; I want to be an advocate not only for myself but for my siblings and the community. I want to use my degree to star non-profit organizations that create awareness of different diseases and the consequences of people’s choices. I know my ancestors would be proud to see that I have had the opportunity to attend college with fewer barriers than they had.

Eliminating the Federal Pell Grant would only cause students to shoulder additional debt, and it is simply not American to allow young people to graduate from school owing what is basically the cost of a mortgage, but with no promising job. During this very difficult economic time, cutting students’ Pell grants, eliminating additional grants from SEOG (Supplemental Educational Opportunity Grant), and cutting services from the Federal TRIO Programs and GEAR UP (Gaining Early Awareness and Readiness for Undergraduate Programs) will make it impossible for millions of students to complete college. I was so sad to read about the proposal to cut TRIO, because not only was I was part of the TRIO Upward Bound Program, I was the student of the year.

When I first entered TRIO Upward Bound, it was clear that I needed direction. My grades were mediocre and I was doing the bare medium. But the director noticed potential in me that I did not know I possessed—I was so completely a product of my environment that I did not know how much I was worth. The director molded me and never gave up on me, and I finally realized that there are people who genuinely care. I take that experience with me everywhere I go. My experience in Upward Bound is embedded in me, and it’s the foundation that has helped me achieve a 3.8 GPA and remain competitive with my peers for academic success. Cutting programs is not the answer to balancing the budget.

I am from a rough part of Des Moines, Iowa, and went to a rough school where most students were not going to go to college—a lot of them did not even graduate in four years. Now I attend Buena Vista University, a private university in Storm Lake Iowa. According to my teachers in middle school, I was never supposed to be here; they predicted I would drop out the minute I was able to. I was never supposed to make it through my freshman year of high school, but I graduated last spring in the top 25 percent of my class, with a 3.01 cumulative high school GPA, and a 3.0 cumulative college GPA.

I come from a single-parent family, where my mother raised my younger sister and me. We could not afford for me to attend school without the help of the financial aid I currently receive: scholarships from Buena Vista, federal and state loans, the Parents PLUS loan and Federal Work-Study. BVU is just where I need to be and I know for a fact that if I lose my financial aid, I will have to go home and stop going to school; if I am lucky, I’ll be able to earn my associate’s degree from Des Moines Area Community College.

But I moved this far from home because I do not belong in Des Moines anymore. With the amount of money my mother earns, and the way I acted in middle school, no one believed I would be in college. But today I am proving wrong the people who thought I could not do this. If I lose any type of financial aid, all of those people would be proven right and I would let my mom down by not graduating and living the best life I can live. This school will get me just where I need to be in my life. I may not know exactly where it will take me but I am positive that it will be a million times better than living in Des Moines, working somewhere with just a high school degree and the small possibility of attending DMACC.

My name is Allan Kelly and I spent 17.5 years in our Armed Services as a pilot. I was forced to leave the military short of retirement for a family emergency. I am able to cover my full tuition cost through my GI Bill and the Yellow Ribbon Program, but I depend on other forms of student aid to help support my family–I am a single father of four sons.

As a parent, I spend my time going to class, taking care of our home, and helping my boys with their homework and activities; that doesn’t leave a lot of time for me to work while going to school. Student aid, in the form of Pell grants, a Benedictine grant and student subsidized loans, allows me to support the basic needs of my children and me while furthering my education. I can honestly say that without it, I would not be able to keep my head above water financially, and frankly, a home for the children and I would probably not be possible. Thank you so much for the aid provided for us so far.

My name is Tawni Langstaff and I am from Fort Dodge, Iowa. I attended Iowa Central Community College for two years and earned my associate of arts degree. Then, I transferred to Buena Vista University to continue a degree in elementary education.

Between my sophomore and junior year, my father was diagnosed with terminal lung cancer. Every bit of financial aid that I’d been receiving from my family vanished. I had absolutely no way of paying for college and no time for a job; I was the one who drove my dad to his doctor’s appointments and his cancer treatments. If I had not received federal loans, I wouldn’t have been able to attend college.

Just a year after my father was diagnosed, my mother passed away due to complications from heart surgery. I am now finishing my last year of college, with absolutely no parental support and a lot of bills to pay. With student aid, I am able to work to pay those day-to-day bills and still make time to focus on school. College would not have been possible without my student loans. I am a month from graduating and becoming a licensed teacher; in my profession, I will be giving back to my community, my state and my country.

I am a student at Texas A&M Corpus Christi, pursuing a bachelor’s in community and mental health and a master’s in counseling. As a full-time student, full-time mother of two toddlers and a veteran of the Iraq War, I have faced many obstacles while pursuing my education. As the economy has taken a dive for the worse, tuition has increased, book prices are skyrocketing and there seems to be no hope for gasoline prices. Many people, me included, are forced to rack up student loans just to put food on the table.

Growing up, my parents (who are college graduates) always emphasized the importance of a college education. I remember during my senior year of high school, my father finally paid off his student loans–he was so relieved! I remember thinking at that moment, “I don’t want them to pay for my education. They have paid for their own, and they worked really hard for a long time to do it.”

With that in mind, my two older brothers and I all joined the military. On the bright side, we do have our tuition covered by our GI Bills; but despite the assistance, we are all struggling to provide for our families. I rely on financial aid to feed my family and pay my bills.

I hope that the economic crisis is figured out soon. In addition, I hope those who wish to take away my educational funding (student aid and GI Bill) figure out another route. My family’s success relies on my education and our country’s success is dependent upon the education of our future leaders.