Federal Student Aid | Federal Financial Aid On The Brink Of Major Cuts
Federal student aid programs could be cut or altered, potentially affecting more than half of Marquette’s students, if Congress does not reduce the federal deficit before Thanksgiving.
If they do not make that deadline, Congress will be forced to cut a $600 billion block of funding from discretionary spending, which includes funding for education.According to Marquette’s Office of Student Financial Aid, 4,834 students received some form of federal financial assistance for the 2010-2011 school year.
The potential cuts would affect all federal student aid programs, including Pell Grants and Supplemental Educational Opportunity Grants, which provide funding to students in individually tailored packages. The federal work study program, which provides aid that students can earn through part-time employment, would also be affected.
The threat of a decrease in federal aid is a national problem that would affect 14 million families who receive the assistance.
Students received an email from the Office of Student Financial Aid last week asking them to sign a petition written by the Student Aid Alliance, who are imploring Congress to spare federal financial aid programs from congressional budget cuts. The Alliance, a group representing 62 higher education associations, started the petition two weeks ago as part of a campaign to lobby against the possibility that financial aid would be reduced.
More than 51,000 people have signed the petition, including Marquette students.
Philip Pfeilsticker, a junior in the College of Arts Sciences, said he signed the petition because without financial aid, he and many students like him would not be able to pursue higher education.
“If financial aid were cut, I personally couldn’t afford to continue my education at Marquette,” he said. “I would need to transfer to a university that is cheaper and depending on how my credits were to transfer, it could take more than a year to finish my degree.”
Jessica
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