Not taking higher ed for granted

On our own college campus and across the country, the hot topic is financial aid. Here’s the lowdown: President Trump recently released his budget proposal for 2018. It keeps the Pell Grant program, but reduces funds for it by $3.9 billion. The program has been around since 1972. The Trump administration says slashing its funding “safeguards” its survival for the next 10 years. The majority of college students have loans, but grants are a huge factor in the ability to go to college for many undergraduate students, and according to the National Center for Education Statistics, the Pell Grant program is the largest federal grant program. It sends up to $5,920 to students in families that earn less than $40,000 a year and is a major asset for students in families that earn less than $20,000 a year. What’s the big difference between a Pell Grant and a loan? Students don’t have to pay back the grants, allowing them the greater possibility of achieving socioeconomic mobility after college.

That’s not all President Trump plans to do. The Trump administration has proposed totally eliminating the Federal Supplemental Educational Opportunity Grant (FSEOG) program.

FSEOGs supply $100-$4,000 a year for students with financial aid, according to the U.S. Department of Education. The Trump budget also plans to curb funding for the federal work-study program and put an end to Americorps, a youth service program that provides money that students can use to pay for college or decrease debt in exchange for public service. For low-income students on our campus, the fear of these cuts is only increased by the recent 4.8 percent tuition increase. A first-year student who wishes to remain anonymous said, “The limited job opportunities in Allentown, especially with the lack of a car and with difficult hours due to classes, make it unlikely that many of us will be able to find a job which would allow us to contribute to tuition in the same way as work-study does. The federal grants make a drastic impact on how many people will be able to comfortably afford the school’s tuition.”

If these federal programs are cut, the 4.8 percent increase may be the deciding factor on whether or not certain students may remain full-time, on-campus students. Especially for students who are coming from the Allentown community, it may be the deciding factor on whether or not they attend Muhlenberg at all: 34 percent of Allentown’s residents live below the poverty line, according to the Census Bureau’s 2015 Report. According to the Hechinger Report, Muhlenberg College was ranked the second least socioeconomically diverse school in the country in 2015, with less than 10 percent of students receiving Pell Grants in 2012-2013, the latest year for which federal data was available.

Jarred Graber ‘18, who spent the summer informally researching Muhlenberg’s financial aid statements to see why tuition continues to rise, stated, “Muhlenberg College still lacks a scholarship for the people within Allentown. Instead, they offer campus tours to the students, which is oddly pompous given that more than a quarter of them won’t be able to attend the school due to lack of finances. I cannot imagine the feeling of being shown and told how wonderful a college is, to only know I will never be able to go there.”

This all hits home for me. I was told throughout high school that I should shoot for community college, because a four-year school was simply too much to afford. I applied to 13 schools and had to present my situation to each. It was only because of federal financial aid and Muhlenberg grants that I got here. President Trump’s proposed cuts not only show his lack of care for higher education, they also show a lack of belief in our country’s students and our ability to achieve. If students were stocks, then President Trump is making some bad investments. We are the next generation of innovators, teachers, business owners, scientists, artists, musicians, writers, politicians — the next generation of individuals that have the power to mold this world into one that turns adversity into opportunity. Our president may not see the potential we hold, but that is not our cue to fall silent. Speak up. Call your officials. Share your stories.