Thousands to potentially see Pell grant cut

Paying for College
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<p>"College students taking longer than six years to obtain their undergraduate degree would have their Pell grants cut off next school year under a $1 trillion budget bill passed Friday in the House. Millions of students each year receive Pell grants, which are offered to low-income students and don't have to be paid back. The bill keeps the maximum grant award at $5,550, but seeks to save $11 billion over the next decade in Pell dollars, in part, by reducing the maximum number of years the grant can be received from nine to six ..."</p>

<p>Thousands</a> to potentially see Pell grant cut - Boston.com</p>

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<p>*by reducing the maximum number of years the grant can be received from nine to six …"</p>

<p>*</p>

<p>Good! It’s about time. Nine years? I don’t know any parents that will continue paying for 9 years…why should the gov’t.</p>

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<p>Because going to college full-time is a luxury not everyone can afford.</p>

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<p>Dave_Berry, thank you so much for bringing this to our attention. I am a senior in school and I got accepted to all the schools applied for. This forum has been a blessing to many of us college bound students. I have no plans going over four years is for my undergraduate degree. I must admit many on this forum is focus on their goals.
Please excuse my errors in my post, I have to start on my project in 10 mins.</p>

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<p>It doesn’t make sense to cut the Pell grant the same way for those who are working and thus need to attend less than full time. Isn’t the Pell grant pro-rated for those attending less than full time? If so, shouldn’t we be looking to cut them off at the equivalent of 6 years?</p>

<p>I think requiring a GED or a high-school diploma makes perfect sense. A lot of the reason why many students take so long as they have to take so much remedial work.</p>

<p>We also need to take a closer look at the schools at which students are eligible to receive federal aid. We shouldn’t provide aid because we think there’s some right to attend college, but rather because there would be an under-allocation of resources to higher education if the government steps in. By changing this, society is supposed to benefit overall.</p>

<p>We shouldn’t subsidize the cost of attending for-profit institutions or every Bumbleville Private College. We should have high standards about what colleges qualify for students to receive federal money.</p>

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<p>I am so angry. The federal government should be demanding more accountability from the for-profit schools. so many of these school suck up Pell money and leave the kids with nothing to show for it. The Pell money to the for profit schools should be cut. No living expenses should be allowed for online schools in the COA</p>

<p>Aiginquinf – I disagreee as to the Bumblville. Many Bumbleville kids are getting degrees in nursing, healh fields, etc and they should be eligible. I would rather subsidize a nursing student at Bumbleville, even if he/she needs 6 years to graduate.</p>

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<p>*No living expenses should be allowed for online schools in the COA
*</p>

<p>Agreed!</p>

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<p>Hi, two of the schools I applied for have online programs, University of Missouri is one. Are you referring to Mizzou? What schools are considered online? Should I be alarm?</p>

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<p>Will this apply to students who took a gap year or two? (Or in my case 10 years)</p>

<p>I attended for 3 semesters about 10 years ago. Does that mean that next year I can’t get the Pell grant for my 5th semester of college?</p>

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<p>*Because going to college full-time is a luxury not everyone can afford. *</p>

<p>Which is why Pell is not being limited to 4 years. 6 years (12 semesters) allows a student to accumulate 120 credits at a rate of 10 credits per semester. Reasonable.</p>

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<p>m2ck, have you ever held down a full-time job and gone to college at the same time? Perhaps with some time needed to take care of family obligations too? What may be a “reasonable” load for you may not be “reasonable” for someone who actually has to do it.</p>

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<p>@annas- It’s not 12 semesters no matter what. It’s the equivalent of 12 semesters. So if you’re going half time, you can get it for 24 half semesters. The equivalent of 12 full semesters (however you break that down) should be more than enough time to get your degree no matter what your situation.</p>

<p>(ETA: That is, as long as the government keeps the wording the same: 600% of Pell rather than 900%.)</p>

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<p>romani, I think we’ll have to wait until the legislation is published…the article on the original thread included this statement:</p>

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<p>However, if that’s true, it seems as if far more than 63,000 students would be affected.</p>

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<p>^And that’s what my comment was based on.</p>

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<p>^^ Isn’t this article also the one that said that those who earn less than $30k pay nothing (instead of saying their EFC is 0)? (Or was that on the other thread?) I just find it so hard to take anything these types of articles say seriously.</p>

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<p>[Budget</a> compromise would preserve maximum Pell grant, NIH funding | Inside Higher Ed](<a href=“http://www.insidehighered.com/news/2011/12/16/budget-compromise-would-preserve-maximum-pell-grant-nih-funding]Budget”>http://www.insidehighered.com/news/2011/12/16/budget-compromise-would-preserve-maximum-pell-grant-nih-funding)</p>

<p>If I’m reading that right then that means they’ve only used half of the grant. Hm.</p>

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<p><a href=“Note:%20This%20paragraph%20has%20been%20corrected%20from%20an%20earlier%20version.”>quote</a></p>

<p>Read more: [Budget</a> compromise would preserve maximum Pell grant, NIH funding | Inside Higher Ed](<a href=“Budget compromise would preserve maximum Pell grant, NIH funding”>Budget compromise would preserve maximum Pell grant, NIH funding)
Inside Higher Ed

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<p>Good to know…I’m always skeptical of the details in initial reporting!</p>

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<p>I’ll ask this again: has it said anything about changing the simplified needs test (to those under $50k)? I haven’t seen anything so I’m crossing my fingers that that’s not changing.</p>

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<p>*m2ck, have you ever held down a full-time job and gone to college at the same time? *</p>

<p>Yep, thanks for asking. (for undergrad AND for grad school)</p>

<p>:)</p>

<p>That said, a dependent student who is working full time won’t likely qualify for Pell.</p>

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<p>But what about an independent student (there are such people, you know).</p>