Bush budget proposal cuts aid programs

The Bush administration's budget proposal for Fiscal Year 1992 would make attending the University more difficult for undergraduate students, University administrators said yesterday. The White House budget proposal, released Monday, would cut annual federal funding for supplemental grants and work-study programs while increasing the amount of money students could borrow from the federal goverment. The budget proposal also includes increasing Pell Grant funding -- educational money which the federal government targets for the lowest income groups -- by $401 million to almost $6 billion. While the administration stated in the proposal that it aims to help the lowest-income groups fund higher education, it is unclear how middle-income students receiving aid might be affected by the proposed budget. And administrators said yesterday that they are not sure how the Bush administration's education budget package might affect the University's aid program or students' aid awards. Student Financial Services Director William Schilling said that the University will have a fuller understanding of the budget proposal's affects within two weeks. Approximately 600 undergraduates receive suppplemental grants from the federal government, while about 1500 students receive Pell Grant funding, Schilling said yesterday, adding that "many more" students receive work-study funds. Although it is likely that Congress will modify the budget, Schilling said he is worried about the proposed funding decreases to work-study and grant funds. "[Should this proposal pass], we would be concerned about the impact to students abilities to attend colleges," Schilling said. While annual funding for supplemental grants -- which are non-Pell Grants issued at the federal level -- would decrease, the Bush proposal maintains that the actual supplemental funds available would increase next year by $48 million. This projection is due to non-federal funding of supplemental grants. The budget proposal asks Congress to cut next year's funding to these grants by $173 million to $347 million President Bush also proposes to cut the amount of work-study money available to students by $72 million to $710 million. In Monday's budget requests, Bush asked for authorization to increase federal loan limits from $2,625 to $3,500 for freshmen and sophomores, and from $4,000 to $5,000 for other undergraduates. Senior Vice President Marna Whittington said last night that the increases in loan limits concern her, saying that graduates should not have to take loan obligations into consideration when planning what to do after leaving the University. "[The University must] work hard to make sure the indebtednesss of students when they leave here is handleable," Whittington said last night. Schilling said he did not yet know the how the University would be affected by passage of a Bush Administration plan to increase the amount of federal loans undergraduates could take out. Schilling said the Bush budget package was a "starting point" for budget discussions and that in the past, presidential budget proposals have gone through substantial changes once presented to Congress.

Please note All comments are eligible for publication in The Daily Pennsylvanian.