Increases in federal higher education spending were among the proposals included in President Bush’s $2.9 trillion budget for fiscal year 2008, which he presented to the Democratic-controlled Congress Monday.
Secretary of Education Margaret Spellings’ Commission on the Future of Higher Education, which issued a report in September, had foreshadowed many of the budget proposals, including increases in Pell Grant funding and reforms of the federal financial aid system.
According to White House budget information, Bush is proposing a five-year increase in the Pell Grant funding. The increase would take the maximum Pell Grant award from $4,050 to $5,400.
Spellings announced Bush’s plans to increase Pell Grant awards during an appearance Friday at North Carolina State, part of the 2007 Emerging Issues Forum sponsored by the campus. In all, the Bush administration will spend $91 billion on financial aid programs for 10.4 million college students.
“This is real money that will help low-income students and makes higher education more obtainable,” Spellings said.
The proposal will likely win Democratic support. Democrats already increased Pell Grant awards by $260, to $4,310, when approving continuation of spending bills for the 2007 fiscal year. A bill introduced earlier in the session, H.R. 81 introduced by Rep. David Wu, D-Ore., called for the maximum Pell Grant award to be $5,800.
Rep. George Miller, D-Calif., who chairs the House Education and Labor Committee, said last week that increases in Pell Grant funding are long overdue.
“Finally, it will be getting a much-needed boost,” Miller said about the $260 increase voted by Congress. “By taking this step, we will be getting on track towards ensuring that the Pell Grant scholarship covers a greater share of recipients’ overall college expenses. We have more work to do to make college more affordable, but this is a significant step in the right direction.”
Bush’s budget also seeks $25 million for a pilot program to provide more transparency to higher education programs and ensure more accountability. This was another recommendation by the Spellings Commission. The pilot program would collect and analyze student data to examine graduation rates and academic performance and would study the feasibility of implementing a new system to track the information, according to budget documents.