College students currently receiving Pell Grants from the government might soon be seeing an increase in their financial aid, President George W. Bush announced Jan. 14.
At a speech in Jacksonville, Fla., Bush said he intends to increase the maximum award of the Department of Education's Pell Grants by $500. The current maximum Pell Grant amount is $4,050.
The Pell Grant program "provides need-based grants to low-income undergraduates to promote access to postsecondary education," according to the Department of Education's Web site.
There are 750 AU students currently receiving Pell Grants, and they would all benefit from an increase, said Mary Vibert, assistant director of the AU financial aid office.
The amount of aid a student receives is determined by the amount of money the student's family is expected to contribute, the cost of the institution and how long the student will be attending the university. These items are calculated in the FAFSA forms each university student must complete to receive financial aid.
"I'm going to reform the student-loan program to make it more - or ask Congress to reform it - to make it more effective and efficient," Bush said.
Bush said the program will not require additional funding to meet the monetary increase, though he did not explain how the greater awards would be paid for.
"While we now await the details below the headlines, it is important to recognize the enormous commitment to the Pell Grant program that ... President Bush has made today," David Ward, president of the American Council on Education, said in a press release.
The lack of specific detail on the proposed increase makes some people nervous. Tom Kiley, press secretary for California Rep. George Miller, the top Democrat in the House Committee on Higher Education, said he has heard these promises before.
"President Bush has a history of making promises and breaking them," Kiley said. "For example, in his 2000 campaign, he promised a $1,500 increase in the Pell Grants program, but that never happened. We are concerned whether the money will actually be found to fund it."
Miller and other Democrats also expressed concern that the money for the Pell Grant increase may come from other student financial aid programs.
"Cutting other student aid programs is certainly not a workable solution. Our primary goal has to be education for all college students," Kiley said.
However, students at AU would not be adversely affected in terms of the amount of other federal funds they receive, Vibert said.
"Pell recipients are the most needy students, and with our cost of attendance where it is, it would not have an impact in terms of taking away from other need-based funds," she said.
Students favor the change.
"I think that increasing the Pell Grants might be the first intelligent thing Bush actually does, as long as the money doesn't come out of any other social welfare or financial aid programs," said Olga Khazan, a freshman in the School of Public Affairs. "If it does, then they shouldn't do it."
Chasity Davis, a sophomore in the Kogod School of Business, was more optimistic.
"Federal Pell Grants are an awesome financial aid component," she said. "It saves me money on loans ... $500 of more free money? Who's to complain?"
The legislation for the proposed increase has not been written yet and will not take effect until the 2006-2007 school year at the earliest.
