April 2005

College Aid Cuts: Make Your Voice Heard

Reg Weaver
President, NEA

America's children need Drew Schnoebelen.

He's a senior at a state university in Idaho, and studying to be a high school teacher. With a growing need for highly qualified teachers in America, he will be a welcome addition to any school.

It hasn't been easy for Drew, and college students like him, to complete their degrees and enter the workforce. In fact, it's getting harder and harder for middle- and low-income families to get the financial aid necessary to attend college and earn a four-year degree.

At many universities and colleges, tuition has skyrocketed - in some cases there are double-digit percentage increases from one year to the next. In Drew's case, that means he'll be paying off $25,000 in loans once he graduates. That's a lot of debt for someone just starting out on a teacher's salary.

Also, Congress is debating legislation that might make it even more difficult by further cutting federal aid for higher education in this year's federal budget.

In the Pell Grant program alone, formula changes already mean 90,000 middle- and low-income students would no longer receive a Pell Grant and an additional 1.3 million would see decreases in their allocation. This decrease in assistance seems even more absurd when the average disbursement of the Pell Grant is only $2,400 - an amount that pays for only a fraction of a semester at most colleges and universities.

It's amazing to me that some members of Congress will in one breath expound on the need to make America's workforce more globally competitive and then turn around and vote to decrease federal aid to higher education.

By doing this, Congress is not just hurting Drew's generation, but creating a cycle that will be felt for generations to come.

Without federal student aid, many middle- and low-income families will not be able to provide their children with higher education, making it harder to get a good-paying job, making it harder for them to send their own children off to college.

Representative government requires participation. Unless we the people make our voices heard, members of Congress will continue to make choices that meet short-term political goals, rather than long-term economic and educational goals.

Let's make sure our voices are heard. Find out more at NEA's Legislative Action Center at www.nea.org.

It's time for Congress to really invest in our future, and make sure that students like Drew have access to higher education, so that America's economy can grow and succeed for generations to come.