The President is to be commended
for putting a spotlight on the challenges many American families face in pursuing
the dream of a college education. Unfortunately, this budget only gives a brief
nod to the problems experienced by students and barely a glance at the excess
subsidies of the loan industry. The end result is a budget that re-arranges
deck chairs on the Titanic but does not provide any more life preservers.
President Bush's FY06 budget
proposes minor increases to the Pell Grant maximum scholarship at the expense
of other critical student grant programs. The budget proposes $100 increases
for each of the next five years that will barely keep up with the rate of inflation.
These increases are minimal considering average tuition at 4-year public colleges
increased by 10.5 last year and the maximum Pell Grant has been frozen at $4,050
for three years. Furthermore the paltry Pell Grant increases come at the expense
of the Perkins Loan, TRIO, GEAR UP and LEAP programs that provide aid to millions
of students.
The budget eliminates the
6.8 percent cap on student loan interest rates and changes the consolidation
benefit for students from a fixed to a variable rate. These proposals will cost
students thousands of dollars in increased interest payments. The FY06 budget
will not provide students the assistance they need, and will force students
to cover rising tuition costs with larger student loans.
