In this specific section of the executive summary on the Pell grant program I will give a brief overview of the Pell grant program including the history, the statutory origins, the justification for the program and how it has been amended over time. The Pell Grant program is a federal grant program that assists undergraduates of low-income families who are actively attending universities and or other secondary institutions. The Pell Grant went through copious amounts of changes in order for it to become the program it is today. In 1965, Congress passed the Higher Education Act of 1965 (HEA) due to President Lyndon B. Johnson and his administration's dedication to improve and assist higher education in the United States. The original intent of the HEA program was to help supplement lower and middle income students cost of college education. The HEA program included not only grants but HEA program also included low interest loans to students who did not qualify for grants. In 1972, Title IX Higher Education Amendments were a response to to the distribution of aid, or lack there of, at the time. Claiborne Pell a Democrat Senator from Rhode Island was…
New systems and policies have been instituted by the State Higher Education Executive Officers to make college access and success a national priority. These policies include: Targeting low-income and first-generation students, “overhauling the notoriously complex financial aid system” (627), and developing new information systems. Low-income and first-generation students are statistically the least likely to succeed in college and complete their degree study programs. People who fall into this category are targeted by allocating greater public resources to community colleges and regional four-year institutions, while also providing need-based financial aid. The financial aid system is obviously complex and difficult to understand. One way to create ease of access to this program is to allow data for the Free Application for Federal Student Aid directly transferable from the federal income tax form. Pell Grants should also be slated to students’ basic living needs and not tuition to highlight the responsibility of the states and colleges to provide grants for tuition to low-income students and moderate tuition and fees based on students’ financial status. As for the development of the information system, it better tracks students’ progress and determines whether they are at risk of dropping out.…
The student debt in the United States alone is in the trillions. According to Forbes and the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, the student loan debt is between 902 billion and 1.2 trillion (How). Since the economy took a plunge in 2008, a big issue is that not enough graduates are able to find job opportunities that can help pay off their debt, and on top of that support themselves independently. “Americans who received bachelor’s degrees in 2008 were roughly twice as likely to be unemployed after a year than were their peers who graduated in 1993 and 2000…(Inside).” The supply and demand of employment is slim and fiercely competitive. Of those that had the opportunity to get a job, 27 percent of them reported that it was unrelated to the degree…
The community-college tuition initiative by President Obama is a subject to unusual superlatives as it seeks to universalize two years of college. The plan integrates policies that attempt to narrow educational disparities that are characteristics of growing socioeconomic inequality in the United States. In this sense, the purported Obama tuition plan sought to facilitate an increase in the attendance of college students, therefore ensuring higher graduation rates with less debt compared to the current curriculum. The ideal, rendered most Republicans allergic to the ideology as it carried a 10-year price tag of $60 billion that included state and federal components (Alexander). However, the plan is already a subject to criticism due to its failure to account for the fact that few students under the current college…
In the United States, Financial Aid like the Pell Grant has helped low-income students afford college. But as more lower income students enroll in higher education the need for federal funding increases. In the mid-nineteenth century support from taxes expanded funding for colleges. The support from the tax dollars aimed to help low-income families attend college. Since the nineteenth century, there have been many actions taken to reduce student loans. In 1972 the Pell Grant which provides financial aid based on income and to maintain eligibility the student must receive a 2.0 GPA or higher and receive two-thirds of the credits they attempted. As the…
Affording a post high school education has always been a struggle for many families, but especially families with a low income. To increase the number of higher educated employees the government intervened by creating the Pell Grant in 1972. “The federal Pell Grant program was designed to help college students…
Education plays a huge role in everyone’s life, and college is not cheap. Not everybody is eligible to receive aid from the government, such as Pell Grant, HOPE Grant, or Zell Miller. Some people have the financial ability to pay for college and…
The cost of a university education has increased 12-fold in the past three decades. Most students pay for college with a combination of family, work, grants, scholarships, and loans. Few students have families who can pay for their education entirely. To pay for college, a student needs to work more than 48 hours a week on minimum-wage. Add that to the time needed to be successful with a full load of classes, and simply working your way through college today is impossible. Even a maximum federal Pell Grant only covers the cost of attending a community college, it leaves a large deficit on the bill for a university’s tuition. Everyone is competing…
In the late 1800s and early 1900s, there was difficulty in having educational bills passed in the House. The dilemma caused recurring hardship on the Senate to find a new way for the government to be actively involved in education and make proper use of the Department. The intelligent minds of Congress found their solution with the USSR’s launch of Sputnik. They realized that with the Cold War at hand, it would be more likely for a bill on education to pass if it were labeled as a defense bill. Thus the National Defense Education Act was put into action in 1958. In order to pass the bill, they made the argument not over if there should be government assisted financial aid, but how it should be presented. The Cold War had instilled a fear of Communism in the hearts of countless citizens so, Congress fought the ideas of grants down as being “socialistic” which in turn boosted the support for federal loans. With this new system of financial aid, the number of students pursuing higher education grew exponentially. Some may have never thought college was an option; others may have wanted to avoid sending their families down a road of financial unease; but the fact of the matter is that through this national reform of funding, millions of students were able to further their futures and achieve their dreams (“Senate Historical…
Despite the credit crunch, some banks are marketing private educational loans with seemingly low interest rates. And some students think they can save money and hassle by putting their college charges on their credit card. But those funding choices can end up costing thousands in extra interest and fees, says Dan Thibeault, a co-founder of Graduate Leverage, which advises students on funding options. A few hours invested in filling out a Free Application for Federal Student Aid and arranging for federal student loans can save big money and heartache.…
Many Americans in today’s society believe the student loan crisis is a myth; however, that is far from the truth. College students all over the United States are in debt because of their student loans. There are many reasons as to why the overall student loan debt is now well over one trillion dollars. The cost of college tuition alone has more than doubled within the last three decades. Which, as a result, makes the amount of money students are borrowing increase also.…
Higher education is extremely important in American society today in order to get a well-paying job and earn enough money to pay off bills. Unfortunately, in order to pay for higher education students are becoming more reliable on financial aid in order to help pay for just one semester of college, which can cost up to $20,000. Many people may say that it is crucial to pay all of this money in order to attend college, but most students are being put into debt, they are being required to take out loans, and most of the money that students pay towards their college tuition does not benefit them directly.…
Many people worry about paying too much, being caught in a loophole or a large amount of debt- making the investment of paying for college stressful. To many, figuring out how to pay for college can be difficult and confusing. Students can fund their college education by getting federal student loans, and working for minimum wage to pay for their tuition. This essay will inform how students can get federal student loans and work to pay their tuition to fund their college education.…
This year the average college student will graduate with at least $20,000 in student loan debt (College access and success). For years higher education has been worshiped with God like influence as a way to escape poverty and attain a career and live the American life. With the rising college tuitions it has become increasingly harder for the middle class to afford college and reap the benefits. Seven out of ten students, will have a burden over their shoulders for years to come as to how to repay the debt. Debt is no respecter of persons: business owners, single parents, teachers and seniors to this day are still constantly bombarded with debt.…
A disturbing fact submitted by the National Center of Education Statistics states that only 59% of undergraduate students 2006 have graduated in 2012 (“Graduation”). This speaks about graduation rates as well as the amount of time it takes for a typical college student to receive a “four year degree.” With the US on a constant downhill slope in education, it is important to look at the value of a college degree and what factors benefit that. To begin the process, it is important to look at the statistics, followed by analysis of a graduate verse a non-graduate and ending with opportunities and benefited from receiving a degree. To begin, it is crucial to look at the statistics.…