The Chronicle of Higher Education April 5, 2011 If Pell Grants Are Cut, Some Colleges May Have to Backtrack on Financial-Aid Offers By Derek Quizon If Congress cuts the Pell Grant program's budget this year, many colleges would have to roll back a portion of the financial-aid offers they have made to students for the coming academic year, putting families and administrators in a difficult position, student-aid advocates said at a news conference today. Congress's failure to pass this year's budget, which has been delayed numerous times since October, has kept the Pell Grant program in limbo. The program has been targeted for cuts by both parties, but lawmakers disagree on the size and scope of the cuts. Proposals include lowering the maximum award, ending the year-round program, and changing the income requirements to reduce the number of people eligible for the grants. College administrators and student advocates say cuts to the Pell program, if enacted this late in the year, would force many institutions to tell students their financial-aid packages will be smaller than what was initially offered. That's because most colleges have already sent families their financial-aid projections for the coming academic year. The U.S. Public Interest Research Group, a nonprofit lobbying organization, held a teleconference with reporters to talk about the issue this morning. The call included Michigan State University's financial-aid director, Rick Shipman, and a Pennsylvania high school counselor named Misty Lang. Mr. Shipman estimates that Michigan State would have to reduce the financial-aid packages offered to more than 9,000 students if cuts to the Pell program are enacted. Most of those students are already receiving the university's maximum aid award, he said. Ms. Lang said cutting Pell awards this late in the year would be particularly hurtful to the low-income families the program serves. "Families with the most unsteady income, or who don't have much financial flexibility ... need the most time to thoroughly plan out their expenses," she said. SANDRA M. PHOENIX Program Director HBCU Library Alliance sphoenix@hbculibraries.org<mailto:sphoenix@hbculibraries.org> www.hbculibraries.org<http://www.hbculibraries.org/> 404.592.4820 Skype:sandra.phoenix1 1438 West Peachtree Street NW Suite 200 Atlanta, GA 30309 Toll Free: 1.800.999.8558 (Lyrasis) Fax: 404.892.7879 www.lyrasis.org<http://www.lyrasis.org/> Honor the ancestors, honor the children.