New welfare regulations announced June 28 by the Bush administration will make it more difficult for students to qualify for welfare, and the changes could affect several Lane County students currently receiving federal benefits.
The updated rules, set to take effect in October, will no longer allow students to use their education process as credit toward eligibility for aid, unless it is directly related to specific job training. Previously, an applicant could list ‘student’ as an occupation and still qualify for benefits under a degree completion program. Now an employer is necessary, and the changes are designed to demand more accountability for people receiving federal benefits.
John Radich, director of Adult and Family Services, an organization that offers welfare in Eugene, said all recipients must now participate in 30 hours of activity each week, 20 of which must be work or employment.
“They used to allow students who are pursuing degrees,” Radich said. “Now it’s not even an option.”
Radich said about 100 students on welfare in Oregon are currently in a degree completion program, 12 to 14 of which are in Lane
County. He said it was unclear what will happen to their welfare status after the changes take effect in the fall.
“We haven’t finished our analysis of it yet,” Radich said. “Hopefully they can finish. We try to do that if we are allowed to do that.”
Radich added that students in such programs would be notified if changes to their status were to occur.
Director of the Office of Academic Advising Hilary Gerdes said it would be extremely difficult for a student to coordinate working 30 hours per week for welfare eligibility and completing a degree at the same time.
“I think any time somebody’s juggling work and school it’s challenging,” she said.
Gerdes said low-income students who don’t qualify for welfare could also pursue alternative sources of support, such as financial aid through the Free Application for Federal
Student Aid (FAFSA) or federal TRIO programs designed to help students with disabilities or low incomes.
“There are some temporary supports available to students in crisis,” Gerdes said.
Gerdes said many of the welfare recipients she has worked with at the University are single parents supporting their own families. For these students, alternative sources of aid still might not be enough to cover basic expenses outside of schooling. The federal Pell Grant, for example, offers a maximum of $4050 for the 2006-07 school year.
“It assists students to get an education, but it’s not going to feed your family,” said Nancy Hanscom, assistant director of the Office of Financial Aid and Scholarships.
Hanscom said any student can apply for the same financial aid programs, but students already receiving welfare would be less likely to get financial aid. Federal benefits such as welfare must be reported on the FAFSA.
Regardless of what type of assistance low-income students receive, Gerdes said, they will have to work much harder to support themselves under the new rules.
“It’s certainly been done, but it’s not at all easy,” she said.