Eligible Ohio State students stand to collectively lose $500,000 in federal Pell Grant funding for the 2005-2006 academic year when FAFSA forms are filed in March unless a proposal made last week by President George W. Bush is passed, said Natala Hart, director of the Office of Financial Aid at OSU.
According to the federal government’s fiscal year 2005 spending plan passed last month, updated local and state tax tables will now be used to calculate how much funding students from low-income families are eligible to receive.
For the past three years, the same tables have been used to determine Pell Grant amounts awarded, but a provision blocking changes was dropped from this year’s spending plan, according to a press release on the United States Department of Education’s Web site. These changes would cause Pell Grant award amounts to fall depending on each students’ financial status. The new tables do not reflect all of the local and state taxes families have paid for the year, making incomes appear higher than they are.
This year, OSU students receive about $20 million in Pell Grant funding, aiding nearly 10,000 students including the extended campuses, Hart said.
Currently, Pell Grant funds range from $400 to $4,050 according to Bush’s Web site. His proposal means that funding would increase this year’s maximum award to $4,150 and rise to $4,550 by 2010.
Bush said that he wants to make college more affordable to the neediest students and that the current federal student aid system does not provide students with appropriate amounts of funding.
Hart said Bush’s proposal will help students dealing with reduced funding.
“Some of the $500,000 will definitely be alleviated by President Bush’s action if it is passed,” Hart said. “Our best guess is that it will, which is fantastic for our students.”
The Pell Grant program is the largest educational grant program by the federal government, said Dr. Brenda Stearns, associate director of the OSU Office of Financial Aid. It is a federal grant program based upon financial need to help low-income students pay for higher education and be able to enter the workforce with the skills needed for success. Pell Grants can be used at any university in the United States that accepts them.
Students apply for Pell Grants through FAFSA and amounts awarded are based upon financial need. Eligibility is based on many things such as income, state tax and showing satisfactory progress toward a degree. After analysis of the FAFSA, the Expected Family Contribution is calculated, the expected amount that a student and their family will be able to contribute to their educational expenses. If this number is less than or equal to the standards set by the federal government, the student is eligible to receive Pell Grant funding, Stearns said.
