THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Saturday, September 30, 1995 TAG: 9509290017
SECTION: FRONT PAGE: A14 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: Letter
LENGTH: Short : 45 lines
To balance the budget is not a bad goal. But Congress has long led a wholesale assault on federal aid to higher education. The cuts are directed disproportionately at the expense of the nation's 117 historically black colleges and universities (HBCUs).
Saint Paul's College is among five such Virginia institutions. Others are Hampton, Norfolk State and Virginia Union Universities and Virginia Seminary and College. Statewide the proposed cuts would eliminate 9,872 low-income students and $9,738,135 earmarked to help them get a college education at these historic colleges.
The potential impact on the historically black colleges is as follows:
From higher education to graduate and professional school, the pending cuts in tuition assistance and scholarships would kill the dreams of people of color, low-income people of all races and much of the middle class. Also proposed is the eradication of TRIO programs, including Upward Bound, Student Support Services, Talent Search and others.
Twenty-six percent of all black students who receive financial aid are supported by Pell grants. Congress is planning cuts which the U.S. Department of Education says would total 40 percent (adjusted for inflation). It is estimated that 47,000 students depend on the Pell award.
HBCUs stand to lose $15 million in work-study funds. The number of work-study students at HBCUs is projected to decline by more than 18,000.
Proposals are to zero out funding for Howard University in Washington. Federal funding for Howard totaled $206 million in 1995.
The nation's HBCUs are asked to pay most dearly. These institutions, created to empower African Americans to stand on their own feet, are now slated to be key victims in budgetary proposals which will destroy ``personal responsibility'' and ``self-reliance'' rather than contribute to their development.
THOMAS M. LAW, president
Saint Paul's College
Lawrenceville, Sept. 13, 1995 by CNB