White House budget attacks higher education for working class students

[Donnachaidh]

http://www.wsws.org/articles/2011/may2011/high-m21.shtml

In July of 2009, newly elected President Obama spoke in Jackson, Michigan, and declared, “Education is the way forward.”

Apparently, he did not mean for everyone to enjoy this way forward. His administration’s proposed federal budget for fiscal year 2012 will limit access to higher education for countless working class students, while bringing the failed “Race to the Top” model used in K-12 to colleges and universities.

The administration proposes to ax $100 billion from federal higher education funding by restricting access to Pell Grants, government scholarships distributed to low-income students on a need basis. The White House, which has trumpeted the fact that it will maintain the maximum grant award at $5,500, is proposing to change the scholarship rules such that students can receive only one grant a year, as opposed to two.

Pell Grants, which do not have to be repaid, are available to students with family incomes up to $60,000 a year. However, most Pell Grants go to students with family incomes below $30,000 a year.

More at the link --

[xchrom]

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