Republicans, with a majority in the House of Representatives, are proposing to lower Pell Grant funding significantly. What this means to the average student is a reduction in the standard Pell Grant amount (5,550 dollars per student) to as low as 4,700 dollars per student.

According to Richard Williams, prominent member of US Public Interest Research Group (PIRG) specializing in higher education, cuts in the Pell Grant will influence 9.4 million college students. The Pell Grant is something students “rely on each year to pay for the college programs that are fueling our economic recovery,” Williams added.

This will not only make it more difficult for students to make ends meet, it will also mean that more students will be in greater debt much longer for the same college education. As the average graduating student owes approximately $23,000, many students would be hurt by these budget cuts. With a cut of about 15 percent from the Pell Grant, an average loss of around 800 dollars per student per year, upon graduation the debt owed by those student receiving the grant will go up by 3,200 dollars. That’s about 200 large pizzas.

“Pell Grant cuts are an area of concern. The only thing that can help to stop this is collective activity by students,” said Travis Henderson, Vice President of the Undergraduate Student Government. “Students have to become politically active and vote.”

Henderson explained that financial aid for college is considered a high fee, high aid system. “Nowhere in the United States has tuition ever gone down,” he explained.  “Plus, no one wants to pay more taxes.”

Henderson said that students can become more politically active by joining PHENOM or The Public Higher Education Network of Massachusetts, a grass roots organization of students and faculty founded at UMass Amherst in 2007.  Visitors to their site are encouraged to sign an online petition asking legislators to vote for increased college funding.  PHENOM’s Web site is http://phenomeonline.org.