Pell Grant - Federal Student Aid, Could Affect 1 Mil Students Options

[Cloudy]

100,000 could lose college grants

SPENDING BILL LACKS LANGUAGE THAT KEPT FUNDING LAST YEAR

By Greg Winter And Diana Jean Schemo

NEW YORK TIMES NEWS SERVICE

The federal government will be able to require millions of college students to shoulder more of the cost of their education under the new spending bill approved yesterday by the House and Senate.

The government moved to change its formula for college aid last year, but was blocked by Congress. Now, however, no such language appears in the appropriations bill lawmakers are considering, clearing the way for the government to scale back college grants for hundreds of thousands of low-income students.

Nearly 100,000 more students could lose their federal grants entirely, as Congress considers legislation that could place more of the financial burden for college on students and their families.

The cutback stems from a revision to the formula governing virtually all of the nation's financial aid. Last year, the Department of Education changed the formula on its own, angering members of Congress who contended that it was a backdoor way of cutting education spending without facing the public. The department retorted that it was merely following the law.

In response, Congress passed legislation in the fall of 2003 to suspend the new formula for at least a year. The Senate put forward the same measure this year, and many members of the House said they also expected the new formula would wait at least until Congress updates the Higher Education Act, which will probably take the better part of the coming year.

But keeping the old formula in place for another year would add an extra $300 million in grants for college students to a program that is already running at a shortfall, the Office of Management and Budget said. So, the bill approved by the House, brokered by congressional leaders in a conference committee, eliminates a provision that would have barred the Education Department from changing the eligibility formula. A Senate staff member who spoke on the condition of anonymity said the White House insisted the provision be dropped, citing the shortfall, and House Republicans were adamant in their agreement to do so.

"They are throwing students out of the opportunity to seek a college education," said Sen. Jon S. Corzine, D-N.J., who wrote the amendment to stop the changes last year, and introduced a similar provision this year that did not survive the conference committee. "It is now clear to me that this was a backdoor attempt to cut funding from the Pell grant program."

http://www.kentucky.com/mld/heraldleader/n...on/10236742.htm

[gmanders777]

Nov 23, 2004
Pell Grant Change in Congress Could Affect Eligibility for Many Low-Income Students
By Justin Pope
The Associated Press


Congress is again adding hundreds of millions of new dollars to the Pell Grant program for low-income college students, but it's also allowing a procedural change that would cut - and in some cases eliminate - grant eligibility for as many as 1 million students.

The spending bill passed by Congress last weekend increases funding for Pell Grants, the main federal form of college aid for poor students, by $458 million to about $12.4 billion, though that figure could be ultimately trimmed back slightly.

Like other boosts to the Pell program in recent years, this one will be devoured entirely by increased demand. And the maximum grant will be frozen at $4,050, despite sharp increases in college costs.

The grant amounts aren't growing because more people are seeking them. The number of students receiving Pell Grants has increased 37 percent in the last decade to more than 5 million, according to the College Board, which owns the SAT exam.

Meanwhile, Congress declined last weekend to block the Education Department from updating tax deduction tables used to calculate aid eligibility - a move that angered Democrats and some higher education advocates.

If the Education Department updates the tables, it would cause about 1 million prospective Pell Grant recipients to have their eligibility reduced by an average of $300, according to Brian Fitzgerald, staff director of the Advisory Committee on Financial Assistance, which advises Congress. The update would save the Pell program about $300 million annually.

The impact would be felt largely by students from families earning between $35,000 and $40,000, Fitzgerald said. Poorer families don't generally benefit from the deductions, and more wealthy ones don't typically qualify for Pells.

About 84,000 students eligible for some award under the previous guidelines would get nothing, Fitzgerald said.

The tables used to calculate awards are still based on IRS state income tax rate data from 1988, when rates in many states were higher than they are now. If the tables are updated, they will show many applicants paying less in state taxes, and the federal government will expect them to contribute more of their own college costs.

The Education Department is required by law to update the tax tables (the 2001 IRS data is now the most recent available) and was set to do so last year until Congress blocked the change. Democrats and education lobbyists had expected Congress to block the update again, but Saturday's bill included no such language.

Now, Democrats say, Pell Grant applicants are being hit twice: Families are paying higher state taxes, since rates have gone up since 2001, but they won't get credit for it when applying for Pell Grants.

"The Republican Congress just threw students who need Pell Grants to afford a college education out into the cold," said Sen. John Corzine, a New Jersey Democrat.

But Rep. John Boehner, R-Ohio, chairman of the Education and the Workforce Committee, said updating the outdated tax tables is necessary "to protect those needy student who are truly eligible for Pell Grants." If old numbers are used in the tables, he said, aid won't reach those who need it most.

Terry Hartle, senior vice president of the American Council on Education, which represents universities, commended the Republican administration and Congress for at least maintaining the maximum Pell Grant in the face of increasing demand. But he called the decision to allow the deduction change "disappointing."

"The biggest impact will be on low-income students hoping to go to college," Hartle said. "Ninety percent of Pell Grant recipients have incomes below $40,000, so that's who's going to get squeezed here."

----

On the Net:

Student aid information: http://studentaid.ed.gov

AP-ES-11-23-04 0338EST

This story can be found at: http://ap.tbo.com/ap/breaking/MGBK4XE9W1E.html

# Go Back To The Story
*****************************************


SCREWING MIDDLE CLASS AGAIN!!!!!

[shah269]

oh thank god!
and the republicans thought that they would have to start the draft!
but now they have a million unwilling perticipants!
wooh hoo!
who's next!
iran!

[cmerrill]

Why shouldn't the Republicans screw the middle class? They've screwed them for at least the last 4 years and the middle class keeps voting them back in and increasing their majorities so the Republicans have every reason to believe that the middle class enjoys being screwed.

[shah269]

http://media.ebaumsworld.com/index.php?e=bushuncensored.wmv

His thoughts!
what are yours!

[LeftistIndepende...]

Well that is not nice to know. Currently I pay most of my tuition from working my a*s off and saving up my money. I attend a jr. college at the moment, but I was hoping to apply for a Pell Grant when I transfer to a University. So much for relying on that.

[alyce]

Again this administration is showing their disdain for further education for low income class of people, the people in this regime have no decency anymore.

This post has been edited by alyce: Nov 23 2004, 11:15 AM

[shah269]

http://media.ebaumsworld.com/bushuncensored.wmv

[andie]

well, i just lost my pell grant. it was only $400 anyway...supposed to be $1000 but we see how that turned out.

i remember from a kerry-bush debate the discussion of the pell grant and bush claimed more kids were receiving it and kerry came back with the best point that no one paid any attention to, and it was that more kids were receiving the grant because they're receiving less than half of what's promised...

kerry was fighting for people my age who need help with school YET the young people didnt turn out more than 17%, like in 2000, if they wouldve shown up just a little more, kerry couldve won and i wouldnt have to worry about if i can go to school each semester. and on that note, i really appreciate people who are supposedly my friends who voted for bush. sure, they dont need college money because their life isnt the same as mine, but they shouldve taken me into consideration while they cast their vote for a man who could determine if i'm capable of getting an education with the signing of his name.

[ultraist]

well, i just lost my pell grant. it was only $400 anyway...supposed to be $1000 but we see how that turned out.

i remember from a kerry-bush debate the discussion of the pell grant and bush claimed more kids were receiving it and kerry came back with the best point that no one paid any attention to, and it was that more kids were receiving the grant because they're receiving less than half of what's promised...

kerry was fighting for people my age who need help with school YET the young people didnt turn out more than 17%, like in 2000, if they wouldve shown up just a little more, kerry couldve won and i wouldnt have to worry about if i can go to school each semester. and on that note, i really appreciate people who are supposedly my friends who voted for bush. sure, they dont need college money because their life isnt the same as mine, but they shouldve taken me into consideration while they cast their vote for a man who could determine if i'm capable of getting an education with the signing of his name.

I loved Kerry's response to Bush on that during that debate when Bush said, more students are getting the pell grant. Kerry chuckled and said, 'more people now qualify for the pell grant, that's why more students are receiving it!' (HELLOOO...is it a good thing that more people are so poor they qualify for federal income based grants?)

What wasn't mentioned though is that they changed the income standards which will cut the amounts of recipients across the board. Has this gone into effect?

There's always student loans if you must! Better to finish your degrees with some loans than not have a degree and get tracked right into the military.

[teacher731]

Just before the Thanksgiving holiday, the Right Wing majority that controls Congress threatened the college dreams of more than 1 million American students.

They authorized cuts to the leading federal college grant program (Pell Grants) that children of working families rely on to afford college. Those cuts would endanger the college education primarily of students whose families earn less than $40,000 a year, and who are already scrimping to put their sons and daughters through school. [1]

After all of the conservatives talk about "family values," you'd never expect them to pull the rug out from under the feet of America's neediest students, but that's exactly what they did. They gave the Bush Administration's incoming Education Secretary, Margaret Spellings, authority to cut tuition aid to more than 1 million students from working and middle class families. [2]

But Secretary Spellings need not make these cuts. Please write her today to tell her not to slash Pell grants. No American child should be priced out of a college education if they have the grades and desire to pursue one.

http://www.ourfuture.org/defend_Pell_Grants.cfm

The right-wing majority in Congress preach about "morals," but what morals do they practice. Their latest outrage authorizes cuts in tuition aid to qualified students who lack the means to afford college. At the same time, this same conservative majority is hell-bent on extending tax breaks which -- in 2004 alone -- will put more than $30 billion into the pockets of America's wealthiest multimillionaires. [3]

Where is the morality in that?

If Secretary-elect Spellings exercises her new authority to cut this program, 90,000 of America's neediest students would completely lose the Pell Grants they rely on to afford college, and more than a million others would have their grants cut. [4]

Fortunately, this travesty can be stopped because Spellings needs to hear from you along with thousands of other outraged students, parents and concerned citizens. Please write to her now, and ask that she pledge not to endanger the education of over 1 million students.

http://www.ourfuture.org/defend_Pell_Grants.cfm

Anyone who shuts the doors to college on the children of working American families shuts the door on America's future. Let's make certain that Spellings, the administration she serves and the Congressional majority who pushed this change into law know that we will hold them accountable for what they do.

http://www.ourfuture.org/defend_Pell_Grants.cfm

Thank you.

Sincerely,


Robert L. Borosage, Co-Director
Campaign for America's Future

[Hope4Future]

That's exactly why I voted for Kerry.

I read somewhere that in order for Bush to support his tax cut they would have to cut Finacial Aid in the comeing year.

Why isn't this posted in the Student and young people's section? This concerns them just as much as it does here.

[teacher731]

That's exactly why I voted for Kerry.

I read somewhere that in order for Bush to support his tax cut they would have to cut Finacial Aid in the comeing year.

Why isn't this posted in the Student and young people's section? This concerns them just as much as it does here.

good idea- i'll post it there. thanks for the tip!

[teacher731]

Just before the Thanksgiving holiday, the Right Wing majority that controls Congress threatened the college dreams of more than 1 million American students.

They authorized cuts to the leading federal college grant program (Pell Grants) that children of working families rely on to afford college. Those cuts would endanger the college education primarily of students whose families earn less than $40,000 a year, and who are already scrimping to put their sons and daughters through school. [1]

After all of the conservatives talk about "family values," you'd never expect them to pull the rug out from under the feet of America's neediest students, but that's exactly what they did. They gave the Bush Administration's incoming Education Secretary, Margaret Spellings, authority to cut tuition aid to more than 1 million students from working and middle class families. [2]

But Secretary Spellings need not make these cuts. Please write her today to tell her not to slash Pell grants. No American child should be priced out of a college education if they have the grades and desire to pursue one.

http://www.ourfuture.org/defend_Pell_Grants.cfm

The right-wing majority in Congress preach about "morals," but what morals do they practice. Their latest outrage authorizes cuts in tuition aid to qualified students who lack the means to afford college. At the same time, this same conservative majority is hell-bent on extending tax breaks which -- in 2004 alone -- will put more than $30 billion into the pockets of America's wealthiest multimillionaires. [3]

Where is the morality in that?

If Secretary-elect Spellings exercises her new authority to cut this program, 90,000 of America's neediest students would completely lose the Pell Grants they rely on to afford college, and more than a million others would have their grants cut. [4]

Fortunately, this travesty can be stopped because Spellings needs to hear from you along with thousands of other outraged students, parents and concerned citizens. Please write to her now, and ask that she pledge not to endanger the education of over 1 million students.

http://www.ourfuture.org/defend_Pell_Grants.cfm

Anyone who shuts the doors to college on the children of working American families shuts the door on America's future. Let's make certain that Spellings, the administration she serves and the Congressional majority who pushed this change into law know that we will hold them accountable for what they do.

http://www.ourfuture.org/defend_Pell_Grants.cfm

Thank you.

Sincerely,


Robert L. Borosage, Co-Director
Campaign for America's Future

[readyinTX]

So I guess the question is...

Do you disagree with Bush?

This post has been edited by readyinTX: Dec 4 2004, 04:58 PM

[teacher731]

So I guess the question is...

Do you disagree with Bush? 

If I ever became insane enough to agree on anything shrub has done these past 4 years (and what he'll get away with the next 4- SCARY ), I'd cjeck myself into the nearest institution!!

[winterreise]

So I guess the question is...

Do you disagree with Bush? 

Apparently, Bush disagrees with himself.

=====snip======
Election promises don't cheer colleges
Campus skeptics cite Bush, Kerry records on higher education
Tanya Schevitz, Chronicle Staff Writer
http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c...MNGBE9AA1V1.DTL

Friday, October 15, 2004


President Bush and Sen. John Kerry both have ambitious plans for colleges and universities, but some higher education leaders aren't putting much stock in them.

In a second term, Bush wants to increase grants to low-income students, boost funding for community colleges and relax financial aid rules on private institutions to help returning students, especially those seeking to improve their skills for a new economy.

Kerry, his Democratic challenger, wants to expand and increase the current tuition tax credit to provide students about $2,500 a year and has proposed $10 billion in new federal aid for state colleges to keep tuition down.

Some higher education leaders say, however, that their field has been virtually ignored by the incumbent administration and that Kerry has never paid much attention to higher education while in the Senate.

"The thing that any advocacy group is going to look for is the frequency that their topic gets mentioned on the campaign trail, and higher education has not been a priority," said Terry Hartle, senior vice president for the American Council on Education, an umbrella group for colleges and universities. "It is obviously not catching the attention of people as much as Iraq, as much as jobs, as much as the economy."

The Bush administration has focused its education policy almost exclusively on the K-12 system and the No Child Left Behind Act, which Kerry has endorsed but wants better funded.

Patrick Callan, president of the nonprofit National Center for Public Policy and Higher Education, said all the attention on the elementary and secondary grades didn't address a key issue.

"If these kids can't afford college, they don't have a lot of incentive to work hard,'' Callan said. "The possibility that college is there for you is what is going to drive high school reform."

The few policy initiatives Bush has undertaken in higher education have been modest and narrow in scope, education experts said.

They include a revision of the federal tax codes to make it more favorable for families to save for their children's college costs -- something that primarily helps middle- and upper-income families. He has also increased funding about $63 million (or 25 percent since 2001) for colleges that have historically served black and Latino students. And he has proposed a $250 million grant program at the Department of Labor for job training programs that has not yet been approved by Congress.

Bush campaigned in 2000 with a pledge to significantly increase the maximum award under the Pell Grant program, which provides grants to low- income college students. Despite dramatic increases in tuition across the country, however, the amount of the award has hardly increased during Bush's time in office. Tracey Schmitt, a spokeswoman for the Bush campaign, said that the administration had boosted overall funding for the Pell Grant program by 47 percent but that the number of Pell Grant recipients had skyrocketed.

The program, which aided 4.3 million students in the 2001-02 fiscal year, is expected to serve an estimated 5.4 million students in fiscal 2005-06 and now has a $4 billion deficit.

Still, Schmitt said, Bush was able to raise the maximum annual grant from $3,750 in 2001 to the current $4,050. But critics say that doesn't match tuition increases and has been stagnant for two years. The administration's budget proposal for fiscal 2005-06 does not include an increase.

Bush says he would also establish a $125 million Community College Access Grants Fund to improve services provided by community colleges and provide scholarships to students planning to transfer to four-year institutions. Funding would be offered to encourage community colleges to expand dual- enrollment programs where high school students can take classes and earn college credit.

"The one thing Bush had really promised (in his first campaign) was to increase the Pell Grants, and he didn't do that, mostly because of the deficit and war, I guess," Callan said.

In his plans for a second term, Bush is proposing an increase in the maximum Pell Grant award to $5,050. He says he would also seek to increase the limit of subsidized federal loans for first-year students from $2,625 to $3, 000.

Kerry's campaign says he has no plans to increase the Pell Grant because his proposed $50 billion in tax credits would help all students, including the poor who would benefit from Pell Grants.

His so-called College Opportunity Tax Credit would provide students with a tax credit of $2,500 a year for each of four years of college tuition, an increase over the current $1,500 Hope Credit that is only available for two years of college. And while the current education tax credits do not benefit the lowest-income students because they do not pay taxes, Kerry has proposed giving low-income students an outright grant equal to the tax break.

"It is all the same kids. It has the same consequences (as an increase in direct financial aid)," said Robert Gordon, director of domestic policy for the Kerry campaign.

Gordon said that Kerry's education focus was on helping all families afford college and that he hoped to blunt steep tuition increases. He has proposed $10 billion in aid for states that do not raise their state university tuition faster than inflation over two years.

And Kerry would expand national service programs such as AmeriCorps to allow 500,000 students a year to earn up to $5,000 a year for college in the next decade.

Funding would come from Kerry's plan to repeal Bush's tax cuts for families making more than $200,000 annually, among other things, Gordon said.

However, Hartle remains pessimistic.

"Promises are pretty easy to make; actually backing them up with a real budget and resources is more problematic," Hartle said. "The biggest issue is that we have a huge budget deficit projected at over $400 billion, and this is going to make it very difficult. You'd be hard pressed to say higher education will be one of their top priorities."



--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

CHART:

GEORGE W. BUSH AND JOHN KERRY ON EDUCATION
The candidates' positions on key issues:



--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Pell Grants
Bush: Proposes raising the maximum Pell Grant award to $5,050 and expanding the program to provide year-round awards for students who want to accelerate their studies.

Kerry: No specific proposal on Pell Grants



--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Student aid
Bush: Proposes increasing federal loan limits for first-year students from $2,625 to $3,000 and making loans available to help workers pay for short-term training that leads to an industry-recognized credential or certificate. Also proposing relaxing rules that limit financial aid for private institutions and online education programs.

Kerry: Proposes $50 billion in annual tax credits to help families cover college tuition. The program would provide students with $2,500 a year for each of four years for college and would be given as a grant to those whose income is too low to pay taxes. Kerry also proposes a $10 billion incentive fund that would be distributed to states that hold tuition steady for two years and relaxing financial aid rules for online education.



--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Community colleges
Bush: Proposes a $125 million Community College Access Grants Fund to improve services provided by community colleges and provide scholarships to students planning to transfer to four-year institutions. He would provide funding to encourage community colleges to expand dual-enrollment programs where high school students can take classes and earn college credit. In addition, he would use the funding as an incentive for states to simplify the transfer process.

Kerry: Proposes $100 million to strengthen ties among community colleges and local businesses and to improve training for students and workers in key high-technology fields. Also proposes a five-year initiative to improve the quality of online education to make training more available for workers needing updated skills.



--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
National service
Bush: No specific plan, but in 2004 Bush dramatically increased funding for AmeriCorps.

Kerry: Proposes an expansion of national service programs to 500,000 students annually in the next decade.



--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Teacher preparation
Bush: Makes nearly $6.5 billion available to support teachers in his 2005 budget through preparation, recruitment incentives, loan forgiveness and tax relief.

Kerry: Proposes a new Teacher Corps with scholarships and loan forgiveness for teachers who spend at least four years at needy schools. Also proposes alternative teacher certification through testing, student teaching and on-the- job mentoring. Also proposes a rating standard for how well colleges teach and train teachers and would eventually withhold federal funds from those that do not meet the minimum standard.

[Istoodforu]

[color=blue]Just before the Thanksgiving holiday, the Right Wing majority that controls Congress threatened the college dreams of more than 1 million American students.

They authorized cuts to the leading federal college grant program (Pell Grants) that children of working families rely on to afford college. Those cuts would endanger the college education primarily of students whose families earn less than $40,000 a year, and who are already scrimping to put their sons and daughters through school.

But Secretary Spellings need not make these cuts. Please write her today to tell her not to slash Pell grants. No American child should be priced out of a college education if they have the grades and desire to pursue one.

http://www.ourfuture.org/defend_Pell_Grants.cfm

If these cuts take place, then drastic enrollment shortfalls will follow. Teaching positions will be cut and the quality of instruction will be diluted. The last cuts to be made, if at all, would be administrators' salaries. I guess someone will have to be around to count what's left of the beans.

[teacher731]

If these cuts take place, then drastic enrollment shortfalls will follow.  Teaching positions will be cut and the quality of instruction will be diluted.  The last cuts to be made, if at all, would be administrators' salaries.  I guess someone will have to be around to count what's left of the beans.

all part of shrub's plan to make us as ignorant as him!

[PaineInTheArse]

Question: How does $300M compare to the daily operating costs in Iraq?

=============================================

http://www.nytimes.com/2004/12/23/education/23pell.html

December 23, 2004
Students to Bear More of the Cost of College
By GREG WINTER

College students in virtually every state will be required to shoulder more of the cost of their education under new federal rules that govern most of the nation's financial aid.

Because of the changes, which take effect next fall and are expected to save the government $300 million in the 2005-6 academic year, at least 1.3 million students will receive smaller Pell Grants, the nation's primary scholarship for those of low income, according to two analyses of the new rules.

In addition, 89,000 students or so who would otherwise be getting some Pell Grant money will get none, the analyses found.

"Season's greetings from Uncle Sam," said Terry W. Hartle, senior vice president of the American Council on Education, which conducted one of the analyses and represents about 1,800 colleges and universities. "Your student aid stocking is going to be a little thinner next year."

Beyond the implications for Pell Grants, the new rules are expected to have a domino effect across almost every type of financial aid, tightening access to billions of dollars in state and institutional grants and, in turn, increasing the reliance on loans to pay for college. Taken together, many education experts say, the consequences for the nation's core financial aid programs are among the most substantial in a decade.

"This is the first time in at least 10 years where there's been a significant reduction for this magnitude of students," said Brian K. Fitzgerald, director of the Advisory Committee on Student Financial Assistance, which was created by Congress to advise the lawmakers on financial aid. It was this committee that performed the other analysis.

The changes are the denouement of a fight that has roiled Congress for more than 18 months. When the Bush administration first proposed altering financial aid rules last year, legislators stopped the revisions from taking hold, arguing that tough economic times meant students needed more help to attend college, not less.

But this year the administration found support from Congressional leaders seeking to constrain the cost of Pell Grants, an expense that has steadily increased as more low-income students go to college.

Even with the new rules, spending on Pell Grants, which could easily surpass $12 billion this fiscal year, may continue to increase, and the ranks of recipients will probably grow as well, because so many new students are applying for aid.

Without the changes, though, Pell Grant costs would be about $300 million higher than with them, according to figures from the White House Office of Management and Budget, since tens of thousands of additional students would be eligible for aid and hundreds of thousands more would receive larger awards.

Exactly how individual families will be affected depends greatly on their financial circumstances and on where they live. Parents who earn at least $15,000 will be negatively affected in every state except New Jersey and Connecticut. Those in states including New York, Massachusetts, Michigan, Delaware, Virginia, South Carolina and Wisconsin will be among the hardest hit.

Many may see their federal grants decline by only a few hundred dollars, or not at all, some financial aid experts estimate. Others can be expected to contribute significantly more.

Painful though it may be, supporters of the new rules say, trimming back on awards has its benefits, especially for future students.

Educators and lawmakers on all sides have long agreed that the maximum Pell Grant, currently set at $4,050 a year, is wholly inadequate given today's college costs. But, supporters of the changes say, unless there is a serious effort to scale back the program, whose costs have been exceeding lawmakers' appropriations for it, Congress may never be in a position to give larger awards to the poorest of students, who need them the most.

"There aren't any easy answers, and there are consequences for wrongly adding hundreds of millions of dollars to the current budget shortfall," said David Schnittger, spokesman for the Republican majority on the House Committee on Education and the Workforce.

The debate stems from a seemingly small alteration to the federal financial aid formula, a complicated equation that either directly governs or heavily influences distribution of federal, state and institutional aid. Its purpose is to determine how much of a family's income is truly discretionary and therefore fair game for covering college expenses.

Much as with the federal income tax, the formula allows families to deduct some of what they pay in state and local taxes. This year the administration gained enough Congressional backing to reduce that amount significantly, in some cases cutting it by half or more. On paper, at least, that leaves families with more money left over to pay for college, even though state and local taxes have gone up in the last few years, not down.

The Department of Education, which issues the financial aid formula, says it has no choice but to update the deductions periodically.

"We're required by law to do this, and we can't pick and choose which parts of the law to follow," said Susan Aspey, a department spokeswoman.

Ms. Aspey said by e-mail yesterday that about 80,000 additional students - not 89,000 as the two analyses determined - would be receiving grants if the changes had not been made. She also said that nearly half of the nation's 5.3 million Pell recipients would not be affected, though that would appear to leave the possibility that the number affected will be even higher than the 1.4 million estimated in the two analyses. Ms. Aspey could not be reached last night for elaboration.


In adjusting the formula, the department is relying on data from 2002, which may not fully reflect the economic difficulties that many families have faced since then. Department officials, however, say the new formula is a lot more accurate than the previous one, which was at least a decade old.

The enormous University of California, with campuses scattered across the state, estimates that at least half of its 46,000 Pell Grant recipients will face some sort of reduction as a result of the changes. At the other end of the spectrum, Knox College, a small liberal arts institution in Illinois, says the changes will most likely reach upward to affect the middle class as well.

"Of course we focus on the students who have the greatest need, but these families are needy, too," said Teresa Jackson, Knox's director of financial aid. "They can't just sit down and write a check for $30,000 a year. I can appreciate the difficulty with the budget, but my gosh, to cut back on financial aid given the times doesn't make a lot of sense."