<p>So right now Twitter is blowing up because someone in the GOP said that Pell Grants are the new Welfare and there are many Republicans trying to cut funding for Pell Grants.</p>
<p>So the question is... Are Pell Grants a form of welfare? Should the government be paying part or all of a student's education?</p>
<p>Personally, I'm relying on the Pell Grant. Because of the way the EFC works, I can't earn more than $5000 a year as a dependent student without hurting my EFC and thus decreasing my financial aid, so I'm kind of stuck. Even with the Pell Grant and a bunch of scholarship money, I'm still left having to pay $2500 and that's going into loans.</p>
<p>i doubt they’ll remove the pell grant. They would screw the pooch majorly if they did.</p>
<p>Its not fair that in this country the colleges cost so damn much to attened (i mean seriously? <.<). If they took it away, i imagine that there would be riots and such.</p>
<p>They could get the money they need elsewhere (ie: not spending wastlessly (ie; monumental construction))</p>
<p>(also i have not herd of that reps are doing that, i doubt it though)</p>
<p>The person who did this is not just some new guy on the hill, but career politician. Rep. Denny Rehberg (R-Mont.) who chairs the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Labor, Health, and Human Services, Education.</p>
<p>He said and retracted this statement in April of this year, and has again let it slip when he called the Pell Grant “welfare” again last week. He is a part of a very dangerous but still small portion of the Republican party who want to cut all federal funding for higher education.</p>
<p>I agree that Pell Grants are welfare. And I am glad that the government is subsidizing higher education.</p>
<p>I wonder what would happen if this subsidy was distributed independent of income. For example, we could offer free public education and anyone who chooses a private college is on their own. That’s what happens for K-12, why is college different?</p>
<p>Yes, Pell grants are a form of welfare, but like other posters have said, that’s a good thing. I rely on financial aid to attend school, and even at a state school, TAP and Pell plus three (smallish) scholarships and an RA position still falls somewhat short of covering the school calculated cost of attendance (though I don’t need quite all of that money for books and expenses anyway). Without this aid, there is absolutely no way I’d be able to afford my education and I would probably graduate with loans that I could not pay off, if I even went to school at all.</p>
<p>Needless to say, I think it is imperative that school be made affordable to those who do not have the ability to pay. That’s not to say that the entirety of COA should be covered by grants, but that the cost of a state school should be covered to the extent where the gap can be reasonably bridged by work and minimal loans. Otherwise, it would just serve to solidify an even more permanent underclass with little hope of the social mobility that I have been able to pursue due to financial aid.</p>
<p>They’d get rid of all the younger people as long as the older people had Medicaid and Social Security. Think I’m joking/■■■■■■■■? Old people vote, young people don’t. That’s why the country has most of its debt (and involving itself in a bunch of foreign battles it can’t afford).</p>
<p>As for the question, Pell Grants are welfare, they promote more education anyway. There would be a lot fewer people in school without the grant. That being said, college isn’t for everyone, and I’m sad to see the money get wasted on people who go to a community college then drop out after 1 year with nothing they can use in the workforce.</p>
<p>^
But for the ones that do graduate and become successful individuals. They get to see their paychecks ripped to shreds by federal income tax, which is given back to the government to pay the interest of money borrowed from the Federal Reserve, instead of using it for the welfare of the United States.</p>
<p>pell grants are welfare that has a potential to help create successful individuals who will later pay more taxes. all other welfare like that free cell phone program you can get if you are on food stamps are nothing but free hand outs. those are the things that should be cut.</p>
<p>Yes, and those taxes pay for the Pell grants, among other things. Like national parks, a globe-dominating military, etc. Or are you of the idea that there’s a magic money fairy?</p>
<p>It would be interesting to see your proposed federal budget. What would you cut to feed your low-tax fetish? Food stamps for people who don’t have enough to eat? Shut down the EPA and FDA so we all drink tainted water and eat unsafe food? Padlock the gates of Yosemite?</p>
<p>Anytime you are getting a monetary benefit from the government, it can be perceived as welfare. So, yes, PELL grants are funds that allow our lowest income families to still send their kids to college. Considering the income cut offs for PELL and the maximum PELL amount, I would hardly call it an extravagent program. </p>
<p>I can suggest cuts in the way the program is designed, however. It is one of the few programs that allow stacking, and I think that should be eliminated. It should also be only permitted to go towards tuition, fees, books, other tax deductible expenses.</p>
<p>It’s not the “new” welfare- it IS welfare. Plain and simple. I am a recipient of the Pell grant because my parents don’t make jack a year. We used to, before a drunk driver decided to take away my dad’s ability to work, but that’s a whole 'nother issue. There should be stricter limits on Pell grants (18 semesters? REALLY?), but it is a welfare that we damn well need to compete in a global economy. </p>
<p>As for the quote, in my state, it is nearly impossible to get any kind of other assistance from the state if you’re a student unless you have a kid. I can’t even get food stamps or anything and I am about as low income as you get because it used to be severely abused by students. Instead of reforming the system, they just took away our aid. Oh and we have NO financial aid from the state- our only potential help was taken away my freshman year. So he can shove it, quite frankly.</p>
<p>Frankly of all the forms of welfare that exist, Pell grants seem to be the least of our worries. You use it to go to college, if you **** up and flunk out then you lose it. It’s not like you can become a “welfare queen” off of Pell grants.</p>
<p>^
No kidding, now take a step back and look at the larger picture.
Welfare isn’t doing so well.
The largest group of people on welfare are minorities (blacks, hispanics) This same group also has the smallest percentage of wealth distripution in the US, and that gap is growing wider despite food stamps, unemployment, section 8 housing…etc. It’s so bad (and we’ve all heard the stories) that people are putting themselves in jail so they can eat, get medical care, and have a place to sleep.</p>