Attention all college students: It is time for us to work together. In the next few months, by voicing our concerns, we can fight to make higher education more of a human right and less of a commodity. Regardless of our differences, we can all identify as students — people who value education. Unfortunately, the President’s budget for Fiscal Year 2006 includes the elimination of almost 50 educational programs, along with a misleading increase in the Pell Grant allocation as balancing the cuts. How is the proposal to increase the Pell Grant misleading? Well, it can negatively affect many students and put them in the hole even more than they were before.
One example of this is the elimination of the TRIO program, which is proposed in the budget. TRIO is a student support program that provides many resources for first-generation college students, low-income students and others. One of the services they provide is free tutoring. Now, if I were awarded an additional $100 from a Pell Grant next year but did not have access to TRIO, I would have to pay for the services of tutor. A tutor costs at least $10 an hour. If I were to incur the cost of a tutor once a week for 10 weeks each term … well, you get the point.
This is only one of the services TRIO provides and only one of the nearly 50 education programs that could be eliminated by the President’s budget proposal. As students we need to investigate this proposed budget and take action by demanding not only an increase in Pell Grant funding but also in the Perkins loan, Federal Work Study and all other education programs. Write your senators!
Jordan Thierry
Eugene