Increased funding for Pell Grants good news for recipients

After wrangling by lawmakers, the Federal Government will increase the maximum amount of Pell Grants by $50 this year, to $4,050.

In addition to the increase, the Education Department's budget package will also provide at least $576 million in additional funds to fund Pell Grants of all amounts. The increased funding is intended to offset an estimated $2 billion shortfall in the program.

Education Department officials estimate that the increased funding will allow an additional one million students to receive Pell Grants each year, which will raise the total number of recipients to 4.9 million.

Pell Grants are the government's primary means of support for students from low-income families. This year, 537 Tufts students received them.

The $50 increase signifies a triumph for colleges and universities, Cynthia Littlefield, the director of federal relations for the Association of Jesuit Colleges and Universities, told The Chronicle of Higher Education.

President Bush had originally proposed halting the scholarship at the 2002 level of $4,000 in both the 2003 and 2004 fiscal years. Therefore, even this minute increment will guarantee that the Pell Grant Program is "healthy," Littlefield said.

The newly-raised maximum is the result of extensive deliberations in Congress, which were not completed until four months after the fiscal year began in October. The Senate had approved a spending bill in January that would raise the maximum Pell Grant by $100, to $4,100. But the White House's Office of Management and Budget condemned the bill, claiming that the legislation would raise the grant maximum while the government would not be able to afford the additional funding.

The House of Representatives had wanted to keep the maximum grant at $4,000. If the House and the Senate had not reached a compromise, they would have been forced to keep spending in 2003 at 2002 levels.

Despite the size of the increase, grant recipients and administrators responded to it positively.

While $50 might seem negligible to some, even a small increase helps those students who are on tight financial budgets said Patricia Reilly, an associate director for Financial Aid. "The increase in the maximum Pell Grant is good news because of the current status of our economy. An increase is a step in the right direction," she said.

Some students have interpreted the increase as a sign of a positive trend. "[The $50 increase] will not make a big difference for me, but I guess it's good that they're increasing," freshman grant recipient Felipe Nicolaou said.

While Pell Grants serve as only part of the total financial aid package that students receive at Tufts, the grants are still beneficial, according to Reilly. "They enable the students to spread their Tufts money around more," she said. The small size of the adjustment will mean that the University will not make any significant changes to financial aid.

Deficits have plagued the Pell Grant program for the last two years since demand for the scholarships far surpassed projections. Experts on student aid have postulated that the escalation in demand originates from a frail economy, the Chronicle reported.

The economy has prompted recent graduates to continue their education rather than search for jobs -- creating more demand for grants. Others who have been laid off or are unable to seek employment sometimes enroll in short-term job training programs, which has also affected demand for Pell Grants.

President's Bush's proposed budget for the 2004 fiscal year would further increase funding for Pell Grants by $1.9 billion, to $12.7 billion, to continue to lower the program's deficit.