2008 Woodie Awards
Congressional financial aid bill doesn't help SU
Will Fawcett
Issue date: 9/26/07 Section: News
- Page 1 of 1
Congress passed a billed to boost financial aid to college students last Saturday, Sept. 8.
The bill cut about $20 billion in subsides to pay for the boost.
The bill passed in the House with 292 votes and in the Senate with 79 votes.
In the House, the Alabama delegation split their votes with Democrats Bud Cramer and Arthur Davis and Republicans Robert Aderholt and Mike Rodgers, all voting for the bill. Republicans Spencer Bachus and Jo Bonner voted against the legislation.
The bill has two ways of helping college students.
First, it plans to cut interest rates for student loans in half, from 6.8 percent to 3.4 percent.
Second, the bill allocates the funds from subsides cuts for the Federal Pell Grant Program.
Pell Grants are need-based grants that give low-income students money for undergraduate and certain post-baccalaureate programs, all in an effort to promote access to post-secondary education.
Pell Grants gave a maximum of $4,050 in 2006, which had raised only $50 since 2003.
This new bill will raise the Grant sum $1,300 by 2012.
However, that may not help Samford students.
Students may not feel the financial burden lifted by this legislation because of Samford's yearly rise in tuition.
Last year tuition was raised 12 percent, up from a nine percent increase the year before.
With last years tuition hike Vice President for Business Affairs Bill Mathews said, "We've held tuition down to the point that we can't hold it down anymore."
Mathews also indicated that tuition increases were inevitable as bills increase.
Even if Samford tuition continued to rise by five percent, less than half the average of the past two tuition-hikes, tuition will raise by almost $2,000 over the next four years.
If tuition hikes continue like they have in the past few years, the new legislation will not cover the cost of the increase.
"Tuition increases are always likely," President Andrew Westmoreland said. It is still too early to determined next year's cost.
Even lowering interest rates will not aid much, because students will be borrowing more money to fight against the lowered interest rate.
The tuition increase will be determined around early December.
The bill cut about $20 billion in subsides to pay for the boost.
The bill passed in the House with 292 votes and in the Senate with 79 votes.
In the House, the Alabama delegation split their votes with Democrats Bud Cramer and Arthur Davis and Republicans Robert Aderholt and Mike Rodgers, all voting for the bill. Republicans Spencer Bachus and Jo Bonner voted against the legislation.
The bill has two ways of helping college students.
First, it plans to cut interest rates for student loans in half, from 6.8 percent to 3.4 percent.
Second, the bill allocates the funds from subsides cuts for the Federal Pell Grant Program.
Pell Grants are need-based grants that give low-income students money for undergraduate and certain post-baccalaureate programs, all in an effort to promote access to post-secondary education.
Pell Grants gave a maximum of $4,050 in 2006, which had raised only $50 since 2003.
This new bill will raise the Grant sum $1,300 by 2012.
However, that may not help Samford students.
Students may not feel the financial burden lifted by this legislation because of Samford's yearly rise in tuition.
Last year tuition was raised 12 percent, up from a nine percent increase the year before.
With last years tuition hike Vice President for Business Affairs Bill Mathews said, "We've held tuition down to the point that we can't hold it down anymore."
Mathews also indicated that tuition increases were inevitable as bills increase.
Even if Samford tuition continued to rise by five percent, less than half the average of the past two tuition-hikes, tuition will raise by almost $2,000 over the next four years.
If tuition hikes continue like they have in the past few years, the new legislation will not cover the cost of the increase.
"Tuition increases are always likely," President Andrew Westmoreland said. It is still too early to determined next year's cost.
Even lowering interest rates will not aid much, because students will be borrowing more money to fight against the lowered interest rate.
The tuition increase will be determined around early December.