The independent weekly student newspaper at the University of Louisville since 1926. March 29, 2011 I Vol. 85, Issue 25 ·
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FOR WHOM
THE PELL
NATIONAL BUDGET CUTS .THREATEN PELL PROGRAM
By Baylee Pulliam
The Louisville Cardinal·
bpulliam@louisvillecardinal.com
According to the University
of Louisville Student Financial
Aid Office, in the 2009-2010
academic year, 17,017 students
at U :of L received some type
of fi~ancial aid - 71 percent
of all: students enrolled at the
univ~rsity. United States gov­ernment
funding provided
$144,758,931- or 60 percent
- o£ the money used to pro-vide
!those students with aid,
. in the for!ll of grants and student
loans.
However, with the possible chang­es
included in both the Democratic
· and Repubhcan proposed budgets for
the 2012 fiscal year, those U ofL stu­dents
receiying federal financial aid
may soon need to look elsewhere .
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Many cuts to higher education
spending have been proposed, with a
projected minimum funding decrease
of roughly $17 million. With such a
large decre¥e, some federally funded
programs are likely to see change.
One change is likely to occur in
the Pell Grants- grants given to stu­dents
with financial need.
"That's the big issue," said Patricia
Arauz, executive director of financial
aid at U of L. "In everybody's ver­sion
of the budget for next year, the
• Pell Grants are one thing that's being
looked at."
According to The Chronicle of
Higher Education, the Pell Grant
program, if unchanged, would cost
the U.S. government $44 billion in
the 2011-2012 academic year.
"The Pell ·program didn't even
cross the $20-billion threshold until
last year," reads The Chronicle. "But . ·
Congress made the grants for low-in-come
students more generous ju;t
the economy sent legions of
ployed workers back to school." 1
According to the U.S. Depart
ment of Education, the number o
Pell recipients ha_s more than qua-J
drupled since the program was es
tablished in 1976. In 2011, around
9.4 million students are expected td
receive Pell Grants - an increase o~
3.2 million from 2008.
This unfortunate juxtaposition left!
the federal government with a rather1
large gap between the available mon­ey
supply an_d the demand - roughl~
$10.7 billion. Both the president and
the Republican Party so1,1ght to corj
rect this in their proposed budgets
for the 2012 fiscal year. ·
PELL, PAGE 3
FUN UVES IIERE.
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OFFICE OPEN 'TIL MIDNIGIIT 1 3/30/11 ONLY!
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