With newly established Republican majority in the House of Representatives pledging to make broad cuts to nondefense discretionary spending, the future of many Georgetown students’ federal student aid is unclear.
In its “Pledge to America,” released before the midterm elections, the Republican Party promised “to roll back government spending to prestimulus, pre-bailout levels.” The bailout and stimulus bills were passed in 2008. Assistant Vice President for Federal Relations Scott Fleming sees this as a grave threat to the Pell Grant program, which is most often awarded to students whose total family income is below $30,000 per year.
From 2008 to 2010, Congress’s gross appropriations to the program increased from $16.256 billion to $32.295 billion. Fleming is concerned that the House will dramatically cut Pell Grant funding in an effort to return discretionary spending to 2008 levels.
“I find it hard to see how they would avoid it,” Fleming said. “It would be fair to say we are in uncertain times.”
As of Jun. 2010, 827 Georgetown students were receiving a total of $3,471,781 in Pell Grants for the 2010-11 academic year.
The number of students studying under Pell Grants is significantly lower at peer institutions. The average number of Pell Grant recipients pursuing a bachelor’s degree at a private university was 346, according to data from the Department of Education.
The Pell Grant program is already projecting a shortfall for the 2011-12 academic year. On Jun. 15, President John DeGioia wrote a letter to then House majority leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.), lobbying for the inclusion of $5.7 billion in congressional appropriations to cover the shortfall.
DeGioia noted in the letter that if the current shortfall is not addressed, the maximum Pell Grant award for the 2011-2012 academic year could be reduced from $5,550 to $4,705. Such a reduction would result in a $500,000 loss to funds awarded to Georgetown students.
The Department of Education projects that the number of Pell Grant recipients will rise to 8.7 million in 2011-2012 from 7.7 million in 2008-2009, an increase largely attributed to the poor state of the economy.
Edgar Corona (MSB ‘12), a benefactor of a federal grant program, wrote in an email that he thought it was important to “increase grant-based aid as a means of helping individuals move forward and not leave their college career vulnerable to the effects of the economy.”
Corona said that some of his friends in California have been forced to transfer to community colleges because of the state’s reducation of aid.
“Every student at the college level deserves the opportunity to complete their degree, but a decrease in federal grants could be the difference maker in a student’s ability to hold on to this lifelong dream,” Corona said.
Julie Green Bataille, Associate Vice President for Communications, wrote in an email that Georgetown remains committed to need blind admissions and providing full financial aid for students with demonstrated need. She added that Georgetown adjusts its operating budget as needed to cover financial aid costs.
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