Students aim to curb jump in college costs

The cost of higher education puts many students in debt, and the problem could be growing.

Student lobbying groups are unhappy with potential federal funding cuts that could increase the burden and are rallying forces.

The reauthorization of the Higher Education Act of 1965 and the budget reconciliation process - which has committees scrambling to find ways to cut spending - has fallen upon this Congressional session.

In order to settle the budget, certain committees in the U.S. Senate and House need to slash $35 billion to finance the national deficit.

Two of the committees are the House Committee on Education and the Workforce - which must find an excess $12 billion - and the Senate Health, Labor, Education and Pensions Committee -which will cut more than $13 billion.

Higher education will receive cuts of more than $11 billion from the House reauthorization bill - decisively more than the $7 billion the Senate bill cuts, said Bob Samors, associate vice president for federal relations for the UNC system.

The cuts go against the Higher Education Act's original purpose of keeping college affordable, said Vanessa Lillie, spokeswoman for the National Education Association.

The Senate legislation received slightly warmer reception than the House version from student lobbyists, because funding cuts are less severe.

"The Senate is trying to lessen the impact - especially on low-income students," Samors said.

He said the UNC system is monitoring the legislation closely.

"Certainly, the university is heavily engaged in this whole process," he said.

Some of the savings from higher education in the Senate legislation will be placed into a new financial aid program created in the same bill, he added.

Senators who authored the legislation also are pushing to put some of the savings from the bill toward disaster relief for Hurricane Katrina.

"We can and should use a portion of the savings identified by the (Congressional Budget Office) to assist communities and families and help them speed the rebuilding their lives," said Sen. Michael Enzi, R-Wyo., in a Sept. 8 press release.

Between the impact of Hurricane Katrina and the ongoing confirmation hearings for U.S. Supreme Court Chief Justice nominee, Judge John Roberts, higher education reauthorization is not a major focus of the media, said Ginny Franks, vice president of legislative affairs for the UNC Association of Student Governments.

Because of this, she said the ASG, in cooperation with the U.S. Student Association, is going to make an effort to get the word out.

These student lobbyist associations are showing their discontent primarily with the House legislation.

"Its massive cuts are unlike anything we've ever seen," Franks said.

The trimmed funding will cause problems for students in three major areas - loans, grants and access, said Eddy Morales, president of the USSA.

The associations are urging students to present opposition to the legislation by calling members of Congress.

The USSA is sponsoring Call-in Day on Sept. 20 and pushing student governments from around the nation to pass resolutions illustrating their opinions, Morales said.

Franks said she is working with student governments at UNC-Chapel Hill and other UNC-system schools to pass these resolutions.

She said the resolutions will show students care about this issue.

The recent national events have not only put the reauthorization of the Higher Education Act on the back burner in the media, but in Congress as well.

The entire process has been delayed about a month, Samors said.

"There are some who think this is the beginning of them not doing any reconciliation at all, because it is politically difficult."

 

Contact the State & National Editor at stntdesk@unc.edu.