The California State Student Association (CSSA) plans to lobby in Washington, D.C., against legislators, the Department of Education and partner organizations, for possible changes to Pell Grant distribution.
From Oct. 24 to 28, CSSA will advocate for legislators to make the California State University system a priority when considering the education budget.
The Labor, Health and Human Services, Education, and Related Agencies aims to maintain the maximum Pell Grant award of $5,550.
On the other hand, LHHS proposes in its 2012 funding draft to limit distributing Pell Grants from 18 semesters to 12 semesters.
“The Department of Education is funded at $69 billion in the legislation, which is $2.4 billion below last year’s level and $11.5 billion below the budget request,” according to a press release from the U.S. House of Representatives Committee on Appropriation.
On Sept. 29, the House Appropriations Committee released the 2012 funding draft from LHHS.
By Nov. 23, the Special Deficit Reduction committee appointed by President Barack Obama expects to finalize a $1.2 trillion savings plan for the 2012 fiscal year federal budget. This would include funding changes by LHHS to Pell Grants.
Pell Grants eligibility would also be eliminated from any student attending for “less than half time,” which means taking less than six units a semester, according to Michael Quibuyen, ASI treasurer and CSSA vice president of university affairs.
LHHS’s 2012 funding bill draft also labels students without a high school diploma or GED as ineligible for Pell Grants.
Quibuyen said that he fears the committee may not have the CSU system in mind when they discussed Pell Grant changes.
“The argument that we want to portray to the legislators in D.C. is that Pell Grant money deserves to be in the hands of people that go to public universities,” Quibuyen said.
Quibuyen said private universities and for-profit universities are receiving the majority of the money for Pell grants under the 2012 funding draft.
Prioritizing Pell Grant distribution for for-profit universities — which Quibuyen said he considers being more of a business than an educational institution — over the CSU, would mean giving for-profit universities the opportunity to allegedly “cash-in” on students, Quibuyen said.
“For-profit universities are able to be created because of a bill called Gainful Employment,” he said. “It’s really to help them guarantee a job after school, but the jobs aren’t there. So it doesn’t really help too often.”
Students attending for-profit universities make up 10 percent of all university students nationwide.
Currently, for-profit universities receive 20 percent of federal Pell Grant funding and also receive approximately 25 percent of Cal Grant A.
The CSU system receives 60 percent of Cal Grant A and the University of California system receives 45 percent.
“Even though we are the cheapest university to go to in the CSU … the percentages still don’t really show need for the students,” Quibuyen said.
Cal Grant A offers approximately $3,500 to CSU students — only enough to pay for tuition, he said.
“A lot of our students work and a lot of them can’t be here full time, so I think that’s something we need to work on,” Quibuyen said.
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