ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Tuesday, October 8, 1996 TAG: 9610080090
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL PAGE: A-1 EDITION: METRO
DATELINE: WASHINGTON
SOURCE: Knight-Ridder/Tribune
NOTE: Below
More college students should have an easier time paying for their education next school year.
In the fiscal 1997 budget adopted last week, Congress agreed to increase student financial-assistance programs by more than $1.3 billion from last year to $7.56 billion, enough money to assist 8.2 million students, or about 900,000 more than in the current school year.
College officials and higher education activists said students could thank election-year politics to the change of heart in Congress, which tried six months ago to cut college aid programs by almost as much.
``We think this budget is a substantial step in the right direction,'' said Edward Elmendorf, vice president of government relations for the American Association of State Colleges and Universities, echoing others.
Nearly all major student aid programs received additional funding in the new budget:
* Funding for the Pell Grant program that provides assistance to about 3.8 million low-income students was increased by nearly $1 billion, a funding boost that will increase the maximum grant per student by $230 to $2,700, the highest level ever for this program.
* The new budget adds $64.7 million to the Perkins Loan program, a low-interest loan program for the neediest college students. The $158 million program had been cut by about the same amount in the fiscal 1996, which ended Sept.30.
* The budget increases the federal work study program by $213 million, increasing total funding to $830 million.
* The State Student Incentive Grant program, a matching-grant program designed to encourage states to pay for financial aid, was given $18.6 million more for student aid in the coming year. That didn't fully offset last year's reduction, which cut the program nearly in half, to $31.3 million.
In a related action, the Republican-controlled Congress also yielded to President Clinton on his controversial direct student-loan program, approving a $55 million increase in administrative costs, thus avoiding cuts in other student aid programs to support the $13 billion loan program for 1997-98.
Under the direct-loan program, students can borrow directly from their college or university and avoid dealing with a secondary lending agency. The program, which accounted for more than 39 percent, or about $11 billion, of all college loans for the 1996-97 school year, was targeted for a $16 million funding cut earlier this year by the House Appropriations Committee.
``We have a lot more opportunities for students,'' said Jeff Andrade, an official in the budget office of the Department of Education. ``It doesn't get us near where we probably ought to be. But it makes up a lot of lost ground.''
The increase in Pell Grant funding was hailed by Elmendorf and others as the major budget victory in the battle to increase student aid.
The $230 individual grant increases may seem small. But for individual students like 30-year-old Jean Bond, a mother of two attending the University of Oregon, the increased aid will at least allow her to keep up with rising higher education costs.
``It will help make up for raises in tuition,'' said Bond, who is working toward a journalism degree. Tuition charges for in-state residents at Oregon jumped from $3,381 last year to $3,540 for the 1996-97 school year. ``It will probably just keep me at an even keel,'' said Bond, who also works part-time to help pay her college expenses.
Liz Hermsen, a political science major at Pennsylvania State University, was just as excited over the increased funding for college work study, the program that provides students with employment opportunities while in college.
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