Just before Congress departed for a mid-session break, both the House and the Senate considered budget resolution bills for FY 2014. A budget resolution is not signed into law by the president—it provides a guideline for how Congress can best balance spending and taxes and sets the maximum spending level for the upcoming year.

The House budget resolution plan brings the federal budget into balance in 10 years while providing $966 billion in total spending (and keeping the recent sequester cuts in place); just $56 billion would be available for education, training and social services. The Pell Grant Program requires $32 billion; this means all other programs that address student aid, K-12 education and other vital social services would have to compete for funding. The House plan also eliminates federal subsidized student loans.

The Senate budget resolution plan calls for $4 trillion in deficit reduction over 10 years, but does not balance the budget. It assumes Congress can and will pass legislation to reverse the sequester cuts and provides the same amount in total spending as the House plan–$966 billion. Of that, $87 billion would be allocated for education, training and social services; subsidized student loans would also be saved, and interest rates would remain steady at 3.4 percent.

Check out the letters we recently sent to Congress, urging them to support the Senate’s plan and oppose the House plan for FY 2014.

Bookmark this page for the latest in news and be sure to follow #studentfiscalcliff on Twitter.

Explore the Sequester’s Effect on Higher Education Funding (US News & World Report)

Sequestration Complicates College Aid Notices (USA Today)

Sequester Cuts Hit Needy College Students’ Financial Aid (Huffington Post)

Check out this detailed breakdown of the impact of the sequester on students.

We are now facing a historic moment and it’s time to send Congress a new message. You’re probably already familiar with the so-called “fiscal cliff,” which lawmakers have partially avoided by making tax decisions. But in that same bill, Congress delayed decisions on spending cuts until March 1. If Congress goes forward with the mandated cuts, students who get federal aid could lose up to $876 a year. We call this situation the ‘student fiscal cliff.’

Here’s a detailed breakdown of the impact of the sequester to students.

If Congress doesn’t act to prevent a 6 percent cut to the student aid programs, more than 100,000 students could lose major portions of their financial aid, and millions more will see their aid reduced. Students have given again and again to help balance the budget. In fact in just the last few years, over $35 billion in student aid has been eliminated.

They’ve already cut:

·The summer Pell Grant that helped low-income students study year-round and finish their degrees in a shorter time.

·The Leveraging Educational Assistance Partnerships grant program which paired federal dollars with state dollars to provide more aid to deserving students.

·The in-school interest exemption for graduate and professional students, making borrowing more expensive at a time when students can afford it least.

·The interest exemption during the ‘grace period’ that allowed people just out of school six months to get settled before accumulating interest on their loans.

·Eligibility in the Pell Grant Program for more than 100,000 students. They also limited the benefits available to others.

Students and families have already given more than their fair share. We can’t afford go over the student fiscal cliff. Please, contact your members of Congress today.

A college education benefits not only the individual, but our country and economy as a whole. A highly educated work force has become an essential component of economic growth and competitiveness–it is estimated that increases in national educational attainment have accounted for almost 30 percent of the growth in national income in the 20th century. Because they earn more, save more, and are unemployed less frequently, college graduates make fewer demands on the public purse and pay more taxes. When the federal government helps students attend college, it invests in our nation’s future and ensures that students are prepared with the skills to perform the jobs of the 21^st century.

By Clay Pell

July 3, 2012

When I was a boy, my grandfather would take me on runs. “Shuffles,” he called them – 1.1 miles from the house and back. People would often stop us to thank him for helping them go to college.  By the time that I headed to college, Parkinson’s disease had long since slowed Grandpa’s gait. But he lovingly invested in my education – both financially and emotionally – every step of the way. My grandfather was Sen. Claiborne Pell, who 40 years ago overcame opposition in Congress to establish a grant enabling every American “with the moxie and the drive” to get access to a college education.

Since 1972, Pell Grants have let 60 million students pursue higher education, including much of America’s current college-educated workforce and 9.8 million current students.All my life, people have approached me to say how much their Pell Grants meant to them. It’s not just that the money made  their educations possible, they say, but that they feel proud of, and grateful to, a country that invested in them.

When the U.S. Coast Guard assigned me to Washington in 2009, I was naturally drawn to the debate over the Pell Grants. While here, it’s been interesting – and somewhat sad – to hear people say that we can no longer afford this program. Some think that higher education does not need to be accessible to all. Others suggest that the Pell Grants should be less ambitious, focusing not on those with the greatest need but rather those who fit a preconceived view of “the best investment.”

When I hear those arguments, I remember the people who have shared their stories with me. Single mothers who went back to school and eventually earned Ph.D.s. Fellow officers in the U.S. Coast Guard who came out of poverty to attend college and now serve in the finest military in the world.

Collectively, these students are our future, and they represent our changing face as a nation. More than 50 percent of African-American and 40 percent of Latino college students count on Pell Grants. For African-Americans, a bachelor’s degree erases any difference in economic mobility compared with their white peers. For the average American, a bachelor’s degree will add about $1 million to her or his lifetime earnings.

Now is not the time to reduce their access to that opportunity. Even as more Americans go to college than ever before, the U.S. has slipped to 14th in the world in the proportion of young adults with a post-secondary credential. I am grateful that President Obama has called for full funding of the Pell Grants this and next year. I am grateful that Pell Grants has remained true to Grandpa’s original vision – grants, not debt – and awarded to students – not institutions – so that they can study wherever their drive leads them.
But we have more to do.

We must guarantee access to higher education, both as the primary means of upward social mobility for individuals and for our collective competitiveness around the globe. We must combat rising tuitions and student debt, continue to invest in higher education at the federal, state and local levels, and ensure that institutions themselves focus their own aid on the students with the greatest need.

And we must demand that institutions provide the instruction and the support that students need for success. As we reached the midpoint on our shuffles, both of us probably ready to take a breather, Grandpa would remind me to keep up the pace, that we were not yet there. As we celebrate 40 years of the Pell Grants, Grandpa might remind us that we as a country are not yet there. We hold the responsibility for protecting Pell Grants and extending the dream of college to the next generation. Let’s keep the trust and make sure our generation keeps up the pace.

Clay Pell is a U.S. Coast Guard lieutenant now serving as a White House Fellow and director for strategic planning on the National Security Staff. The views here are his own. Click here to visit The Providence Journal.

All my life money has been a worry. My mom has worked low paying jobs as a sales clerk; my dad was rarely home and they divorced when I was 16. Since then, it has been my brother, my mother and me. There have been many months when we have gone without electri

I learned when I was a senior in high school that there was financial aid available for college, and I applied for almost every college in Tennessee, along with some in other states. When I was accepted into Tusculum College, I was so excited. I’d gone on a college tour the summer before and had fallen in love with it–it was my dream school! But I was deeply worried that I wouldn’t qualify for any scholarships or grants. I filled out my FAFSA and was thrilled when I got the letter from telling me I’d been awarded scholarships and grants that covered most of my tuition. I qualified for a few loans as well, and decided to accept them; I have confidence that I will find a good job after graduation.

I’m currently a sophomore and love every minute of college. More importantly, I know that I want to continue beyond college. I plan on going to graduate school to become a college professor. I love helping other people and I love literature and writing, so I’ve decided to combine my loves. If I didn’t have financial aid, I know I wouldn’t be in college; I would probably be working a dead-end job.

I am the head of a single parent household and have three daughters; the Pell Grant has allowed me to receive an associate’s degree from Central Piedmont Community College and continue on to a University of North Carolina, Charlotte for my bachelor’s degree. My education has allowed me raise my children without the aid of public assistance and support my children financially. I have also been able to teach my children the importance of an education.

My eldest child earned her bachelor’s degree from North Carolina Central University and joined the workforce with the help of Pell grants, scholarships and small loans; as my middle child prepares for high school graduation, she anticipates attending a four-year university like her sister. She, too, will need the help of Pell grants to make her dream of higher education possible. Even though it may be possible for my children to attend college on loans, having the assistance of the Pell Grant simply makes college more affordable for our family. Without grants and loans, my family would not be able to pursue higher education.

My name is Shawn McClain, and I have been a student at Buena Vista University for half a year now. Previous to BVU, I attended Des Moines Area Community College and received two associates degrees in business administration. I am now working on my bachelor’s, with a double major in business administration and business management, and a minor in human resource management.

My education has been dependent on scholarships and financial aid. Thanks to DMACC and their great scholarship program, along with scholarships I received from the Exira High School, I did not have to fund my education at DMACC with any loans. But BVU has a higher tuition cost, which has forced me to fund my education through federal student loans. This year has been the first time I have ever received federal aid, and it has been a tremendous help. I received an Iowa Education Grant, which was a great relief to the burden of being in debt.

I hope the government will continue to expand state and federal aid to students, because a college education is very important in the world today. With the help of these sources of aid to students, it will ensure a bright future without the stress of paying the high cost of student loans.

During high school there was no other option: I was going to college. But my dreams were thrown into confusion during my junior year of high school, when my father was laid off. With him being the only working person in the house, my college dreams began to slip away. But I stayed determined and hopeful that he would eventually find a job, so I kept my grades up, had good ACT scores and worked my butt off.

Entering my senior year, after all the college applications were filled out, my dad was still jobless and the reality of college slipped further and further away. My mom told me to keep doing what I needed to do and eventually everything would work out.

Just before graduation, my dad found a job in South Carolina, taking a 10 percent pay cut from his previous job in Wisconsin. We had a family meeting to discuss how to pay for my college–I had already made up my mind to attend Buena Vista University in Storm Lake, Iowa; I just didn’t know how.



Financial aid forms arrived with the early estimates, using the information I’d supplied two months before my father lost his job. There was no way we could afford our estimated portion. Thankfully, we were able to discuss our “special circumstances” with financial aid counselors. Ultimately, more than half of my tuition was paid for through student aid, with programs such as the Perkins Loan, a grant from Buena Vista, Federal Work-Study, Stafford loans (subsidized and unsubsidized) and the Merit Award. Without all of these grants and loans, I would be unable to attend Buena Vista.