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NEA Statement of Principles on Federal Funding
for Higher Education
(en Español)
October 20, 2003
"Perfect Storm" Batters College Affordability
for Many Families
Bush Administration and Congress
Worsen
Nationwide Crisis in Higher Ed
As Congress debates higher education funding and the
latest data on rising tuition and fees at U.S. colleges and universities
are released this week, millions of Americans are being hammered by a
perfect storm of a stagnant economy, soaring college costs, and aid reductions
due to federal and state cutbacks.
The economic downturn has left many young people and
families with fewer resources to pay for a four-year college degree just
as costs skyrocket and public and private assistance become more difficult
for them to obtain. With almost all states struggling through the worst
fiscal crisis since World War II, state universities and community colleges
are receiving less and less help from policymakers. As a result, tuition
and fees rose rapidly this year, with students at some institutions seeing
hikes as high as 20, 30, or even 40 percent. At the same time, many universities
and private foundations are cutting back on scholarships to needy students,
leading greater numbers of them to take out more and more loans, work
full- or part-time jobs, postpone their education, or abandon their dreams
altogether.
President Bush and Congress have made this crisis worse.
With a maximum of just over $4,000 and an average value of $2,400, Pell
Grants no longer provide nearly enough assistance to working families
to pay for college costs. Yet the Bush administration is not proposing
any increase in the maximum Pell Grant award but is revamping the Pell
Grant funding formula so that 84,000 middle-class families are no longer
eligible.
The Bush administration and Congress also doled out
trillions of dollars in tax breaks over the past three years mostly to
corporations and the wealthiest individuals, which siphoned billions of
dollars out of state revenues available for higher education and other
critical needs. Now they are pushing forward a $87 billion aid package
for Iraq—at a time when the entire annual federal budget for education
barely tops $50 billion-while freezing funding for higher education.
To lessen the impact of the funding crisis on students
and their families and ensure that higher education remains a top priority,
NEA proposes that the Bush administration and Congress take immediate
actions, including:
- Raising the Pell Grant maximum to restore
its previous purchasing power and ensuring that all students and families
who are currently eligible for assistance remain eligible;
- Significantly increasing funding for other
sources of federal assistance such as supplemental grants and work-study;
- Providing additional direct fiscal relief to
states and localities to pay for higher education and other critical
needs;
- Passing legislation that allows children of
undocumented immigrants who reside in this country to gain in-state
tuition at public colleges and universities.
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