President Barack Obama proposed cutting higher education by $89 billion over the next decade to ease the impact of the projected $1 trillion budget deficit Monday.
The cuts to higher education spending would be reallocated for primary and secondary education, according to the budget. Pell Grants, need-based grants for low-income students, could undergo drastic cuts. The federal government provides the money for Pell Grants, and students do not have to repay them, said Thomas Melecki, UT’s director of Student Financial Services.
“Pell Grants usually go to our poorest students who are least able to pay for college,” Melecki said.
Currently, students can receive Pell Grants up to $5,500 in the fall and spring and $2,775 in the summer. Obama’s proposed budget would cut funding for the summer Pell Grant program, which the government instituted three years ago, and increase the interest rates for some student loans. His plan would also remove the subsidized portion of student loans for graduate students.
Read the full story at the Daily Texan.
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