SIVACRACY.NET: Republicans Slam Poor Blue State College Students

From The Chronicle of Higher Education:

In December Surprise, Education Dept. to Issue Policy That Could Remove 90,000 Students From Aid Rolls By STEPHEN BURD Washington
About 90,000 students could be disqualified from receiving Pell Grants and other forms of federal and state financial aid under a change, scheduled to be issued on Thursday by the U.S. Education Department, in the formula the government uses to calculate a student's need for aid.

The department plans to announce in the Federal Register that it is, for the first time in a decade, updating the amount it forgives most families for their state and local tax payments when determining how much income the families have left over to pay college costs.

According to an analysis by the American Council on Education, about 1.3 million students and their families will see their eligibility for federal financial aid drop next year, when the formula change takes effect, because the new formula will show them to have more money available for college than before. The families of some of the 90,000 students disqualified from Pell Grants could also appear to be rich enough under the change, according to the council, that they will be ineligible for state and institutional aid as well.

Despite opposition from Democratic lawmakers, college lobbyists, and advocates for students, Congress gave the department the green light to make the change to the federal needs-analysis formula when it approved a vast budget bill this month for the 2005 fiscal year.

The Senate version of the bill, passed in July, had contained a provision blocking the department from making the formula change. But Republican Congressional leaders dropped the provision when hammering out the final version of the spending bill.

Over the last several weeks, Bush-administration officials had been cagey about whether they were going to exercise the authority they had been given. Lobbyists were not surprised that the department's leaders decided to announce the change two days before Christmas.

"It's not unusual for federal agencies to release unpleasant news when people aren't paying attention," said Terry W. Hartle, senior vice president for government and public affairs at the American Council on Education.

Department officials would not comment on Wednesday about the change. But they have said in the past that the Higher Education Act, which governs most federal student-aid programs, requires them to make the update. They have noted that the current formula relies on tax data from 1988. The new formula derives from 2002 tax data.

Rep. John A. Boehner, the Ohio Republican who is chairman of the House of Representatives education committee, applauded the department for updating the formula. A spokesman for the congressman said that the change would ultimately benefit the neediest students who rely on Pell Grants because it would help reduce a $4-billion shortfall in the Pell Grant program's budget.

The administration and Republican lawmakers have been wary of increasing the maximum grant, which for the third year in a row is $4,050, until the program's deficit is eliminated.

"If opponents succeed in forcing the Bush administration to continue using the outdated tax tables, it will likely mean wrongly adding hundreds of millions of dollars to the current Pell budget shortfall, making it harder than ever for Congress to increase the maximum Pell Grant award for the poorest students in the nation down the road," said David Schnittger, a spokesman for Mr. Boehner's committee.

But college lobbyists and student-aid experts say the formula change will make only a small dent in the shortfall, as Congressional budget officials have estimated that the change will save the government about $300-million.

The advocates and experts say that a loss of eligibility will probably not force too many students out of college, as those who will be most affected are those who are receiving the minimum grant award of $400.

"This will probably not lead too many students to drop out," said Mr. Hartle. "But it will cause these students to work more hours, borrow more money, or reduce their course loads."

More worrisome, said Brian K. Fitzgerald, staff director of the Advisory Committee on Student Financial Assistance, is that these same students could find that they are no longer eligible for other types of aid as well. The committee advises Congress on student-aid issues.

"The real concern here," he said, "is that the change will have a significant trickle-down effect because many states and colleges use the federal formula when awarding need-based aid."

According to the ACE's analysis, the 90,000 students will be concentrated in 21 states, including Massachusetts, New York, South Carolina, and Virginia. Students in two states -- Connecticut and New Jersey -- will actually see their grants increase.

A U.S. senator from one of those states had choice words for the formula change. "I am outraged that the Bush administration is going forward with these punitive cuts in Pell Grants," said Sen. Jon S. Corzine, the New Jersey Democrat who led an effort in the Senate to block the department from making the formula change.

"For these students who are simply working to get ahead," said Mr. Corzine, "this is a scene from 'The Grinch who stole my education.'"