This blog is officially closed and will now only exist as an archive of past posts.
Please visit the new blog at http://daniel.mitblogs.com.
Some of you have probably only (fairly) recently found this blog. Others of you have been reading the blog for a while, checking in sometimes on a daily basis to see if there is a new post, and what else is going on.
But probably not many of you (perhaps other than me) have been here since the first ever post (which was way back in October) in which I announced the beginning of this experiment. If you don't remember, here is a small recap for you...
This year, my “not-to-miss” show has to be “Lost.” For those of you who haven't seen it or haven't heard about it, the premise is this: an airplane crash-lands on a deserted (?) island somewhere 1000s of miles off course and the survivors have to battle themselves, the island, and the monster on the island to survive. Kind of Survivor meets Gilligan's Island meets The Twilight Zone. I have to say, I am riveted to the TV for this show. Created by JJ Abrams, who is also the creator of “Alias”, it is tightly-written, suspenseful, and gripping.
I don't want the reveal; I don't want to know what the monster is in actuality, or why the paralyzed man can now walk, or whether Jack's father is dead or alive. I want to maintain the mystery.
Interesting, since my purpose in keeping this blog (as well as I can) is to dispel the mystery.
I am Director of Financial Aid here at MIT, a position I have held for the past two and 1/2 years. This is a great place to work, and I can only imagine how wonderful it must be to be a student here, but my role is to be a part of the mystery behind helping families pay for the cost of MIT. I have a wonderful group of peers and colleagues in Student Financial Services who work to make sure that we do the best we can to help families afford the expense of MIT.
But sometimes I wonder if students get lost. If they think of the financial aid process kind of like the deserted island, full of pitfalls and unseen monsters. (OK am I stretching the metaphor too far here?).
So this blog will kind of be a “what do I need to know now” guide along with my rantings and ravings on whatever subject seems to be around and about. Feel free to engage me in dialogue, although if you want your conversation with me to be private, please email me at [moneyman] at mit dot edu (expressed this way to avoid spam).
Well, a lot has happened since October! Thanks to your participation this blog has become a real two-way communication tool for me and my office, and we have learned as much from you as (I hope) you have learned from us.
But now it is time to close the book on this chapter and open a new one.
As of July 1, 2005 this blog will no longer be updated or maintained. Instead, I invite all of you to join me at the new MIT blog site at http://daniel.mitblogs.com. The new hosted service (similar to what Ben's blog has always been) allows much more flexibility and creativity. I am looking forward to playing with it. (I will be checking feedback on this blog during the month of July, but then will only check in here much less regularly).
So change your links, change your pointers, and come and hang out with me at the new location!
And thank you for helping me make this dream a reality. Hopefully you have felt a little less lost on your journey. Hopefully you've felt this process to be more like a guided journey than a deserted island. Hopefully you understand more about what we do and why we ask the things we do. And hopefully, this process and the blog has helped dispel some nervousness and anxiety.
Hey all!
Sorry for the long delay in posting but life has been crazy for me... Since we last spoke:
- I've traveled to Philadelphia for a 568 group meeting. We've started discussing proposed changes and refinements to the methodology we use to determine financial aid (look here for a more detailed discussion of our methodologies) and the meeting was an attempt to try to build consensus of some of these issues.
- I've traveled to Fenway for a terrific Red Sox win over the Pirates. My father's day gift was seats at the game on Sunday, and a great game it was! The Red Sox won 8-0. After the game, we got to participate in the annual Father's Day Catch (where they let dads and kids on the field and hand out soft (very soft) balls, which with you can play catch with the kids). It was a BLAST! They even changed the sign on the Green Monster (the scoreboard) to honor fathers (a photo follows - note that I don't know anyone in the photo).
- We all have been busy reading, reading, and doing more reading. At this time of year, we are trying to finish reading all currently completed upperclass student files so that you can have a financial aid award prior to the July 10th bill. At this point, there are still about 200 complete files we are reviewing and we hope to have these decisions out the door in the next two weeks.
- Reading and packaging Graduate Students. We have also been working with the application files of Graduate Students and notifying you of your eligibility for loan funding. At this point, we have awarded over 500 Graduate Students with more award packages on the way weekly. (As a point of information, we are adopting an email-only notification policy for Graduate Student award letters -- make sure to open the Word document we send you and print it for your records). A photo of our Graduate process manager, Elizabeth Barnes, in which she expresses joy at this move, follows:
- We have been hard at work processing Self-Help forms. At this point, we have processed all of the Self-Help forms we have, assigning you the best programs for term-time work and student loans for which you are eligible. I hope in the rest of this post to expand on what you need to do now for follow-up on these programs.
So, now it is time to turn to the steps you need to take to finalize your loans and term-time work:
If you asked for student loan funding, you were awarded one (or more) of the following three loans: Federal Perkins Loan, Federal Direct Subsidized or Unsubsidized Stafford Loan, or MIT Subsidized Technology Loan. I will talk about the differences between these programs below, but first let's address what you need to do to take advantage of these programs.
- For any of these programs, you must complete an online Entrance Interview. Your Entrance Interview can be completed through WEBSIS by following this navigation path: For StudentsàFinancial RecordàLoan Entrance Interview. All students who plan to take a loan during their academic career must complete a Loan Entrance Interview prior to any funds being disbursed to the student account.
- For the Federal Direct Subsidized or Unsubsidized Stafford Loan, you must complete a Master Promissory Note (MPN). Students can access an online version of the MPN here. In order to access your MPN online, you will need your PIN used during your FAFSA application process. Alternatively, you can wait until Loan Signing sessions in the Fall (see below) and sign your MPN in person. Once you sign an MPN, you will no longer need to sign annually; instead, your award letter from us will identify the amount of your new disbursement under this program.
- For the Federal Perkins Loan, you will need to sign your Master Promissory Note (MPN) when you arrive on campus in the Fall. We will announce loan signing dates and locations in the Fall. At that time, you will complete an MPN which will allow us to offer you loans under this program in later years without having to resign loan notes each year.
- For the MIT Subsidized Technology Loan, you will need to complete a MIT Technology Loan Cosigner Application (these forms are not yet ready, we will send you one once they are complete and ready for distribution). The MIT Tech Loan is a cosigned loan so you will need to have someone serve as your cosigner. Once they have been approved as a cosigner, we will then send your cosigner a Promissory Note for them to complete and send back to us; we will then notify you that you need to come sign the same Promissory Note.
Now for some details on the loans themselves:
- The Federal Perkins Loan is a subsidized loan (meaning that no interest accrues on the loan while you are in school) and features a 5.00% fixed interest rate. There are no borrowing fees on the loan. Repayment on the loan begins 9 months after graduation (or when a student withdraws or drops below half-time). The repayment period is 10 years and there is a minimum monthly payment of $40. There are specialized deferment and cancellation provisions which will be identified on the MPN.
- The Federal Subsidized or Unsubsidized Stafford Loan is a loan featuring a variable interest rate (capped at 8.25%, and set annually on July 1). The loan will either be subsidized (see definition above) or unsubsidized (meaning that you can either pay the interest while you are in school, or have the interest added to the loan principal you repay). For July 1, 2005 - June 30, 2006 the in-school rate for Unsubsidized loans is 4.7% and the repayment rate for all loans in 5.3%. Fees are deducted from the loan you borrow (a 3% origination fee with a 1.5% rebate given back), and repayment begins 6 months after graduation (or withdrawal or less than half-time enrollment). The standard repayment period is 10 years with a minimum monthly payment of $50 (there are other repayment options available). There are deferment and forbearance provisions which will be spelled out in the MPN.
- The MIT Subsidized Technology Loan is a subsidized loan. The interest rate is 7% fixed and repayment begins 6 months after graduation, withdrawal, or less than half-time enrollment. There are no borrowing fees, and the standard repayment period is 10 years. The minimum monthly payment is $50.
So let's talk about work:
If you asked for term-time employment, you were awarded one (or both) of two funds, either Federal Work Study or MIT Work. In either case, the majority of terms are the same; the only difference pertains to who pays your wages (either all from MIT or shared between MIT and the Federal Government). I will be providing a much longer post on Student Employment (when it is more timely) and highlighting what you need to do to find a job on campus, but at the present time, I will just briefly discuss several items of which you may want to be aware.
- If you want to access the jobs that are currently available, click here. Some jobs for the Fall are already listed, but many employers will add jobs in August knowing at that point what their needs are and that you won't until August be able to apply for the jobs anyway. Think of this as kind of an “online bulletin board” for available positions.
- If you were awarded Federal Work Study you may want to consider Community Service as a way to meet your term-time employment. Community Service is only available to Federal Work Study recipients; these jobs are off-campus assignments in the community at large where you can direct your passion for public service into positive use by working in a local non-profit agency and getting paid to do so. Again, much more information on Community Service jobs for 2005-2006 will be available as we get closer to the Fall. (If you didn't receive Federal Work Study but you want to participate in Community Service, you may still be able to if you received a Federal Perkins or Subsidized Stafford Loan. If this is the case, all you need to do is complete a modified Self-Help form, indicating your changed decision as to your Work / Loan distribution, and indicate your interest in participating in Community Service on the form. Make sure to return the form to us and indicate on it that it is a revised form by checking the box at the top.)
- Regardless of which program you have, be sure to bring your original documents with you in the Fall to prove your eligibility to work. As you may be aware, before anyone can work in any job, we must prove your eligibility to work by completing an I-9 Form. Part of the I-9 Form, asks us to confirm your citizenship status by examining your actual eligibility documents (such documentation can include your Passport, Social Security Card, Birth Certificate, Driver's License, etc). You must have your original documents with you at MIT at the time you complete the I-9 Form, so be prepared to bring these with you to campus in the Fall.
So much more to discuss, but so little time. I need to get back to reading. Questions? Comments? General feedback?
What a warm weekend in Boston -- humid, hot and sticky. It's nice that summer has arrived, but I would prefer to have my heat without humidity! This weekend was my choir's end of year performance. We were in a room with no A/C; and I had six or so costume changes (some including a woolen tuxedo and another with a heavy leather jacket). I'm ready for a break in the weather!
One event I happened to miss during my visit to Aspen last week was the annual Dean for Undergraduate Education Infinite Mile Award Reception. The Infinite Mile award is to recognize staff who undertake “outstanding achievements” in their support of students, staff and faculty. Take a look at this year's award winners; you may recognize some of the recipients (especially the three named at the end of the page).
Off to the main purpose of the post: for those of you who may be looking for ways to limit your out-of-pocket expenses, may I suggest you consider “Student House” as an option?
Student House is one of the members of the FSILGs (the Fraternities, Sororities and Independent Living Groups) at MIT. The FSILGs as a group are residence alternatives for upperclass students (Sophomores, Juniors and Seniors) who want to live in an independent residence, but with MIT presence (in the form of a residence-based advisor). While each of the FSILGs represents a great opportunity to form a close-knit, cohesive bond with a group of MIT students, I want to focus this particular post on Student House because of its unique history and its relevance to the work we do in Student Financial Services.
Student House was originally established as a residence for students with financial need. In its organizational structure, it is established as a cooperative residence; students do work (light cleaning, cooking, etc) during the semester in exchange for a significantly reduced living expense. There are about 30 students who live in the residence, both men and women, and the student rooms vary from singles to doubles to triples.
So, financially, what is the benefit? Since your monthly rate to Student House (at least for 2004-2005) is about $350 a month, and that figure includes room and board (dinner every day, lunch and breakfast available for you to take with you, combined shopping list for food), by living at Student House you wind up reducing your out of pocket expenses by about $5500 (coincidentally the amount of the student self-help award). Since we don't reduce your financial aid budget if you live in less expensive housing, you can certainly save the cost of your annual self-help by living at Student House.
If you are interested, you certainly do need to be willing to be an active participant in the maintenance of the house, but in this case, if that appeals to you, you can certainly get what you don't pay for. Rush will occur during the Fall of your Freshman year, although Student House is pretty flexible about Rush (I think they even still have a very small number of vacancies for this Fall for current upperclass students who may be interested).
Do any current or former residents of Student House want to comment on their perspective on Student House? Any comments about other FSILG residences?
Hey all! Several items of update.
First off, I am back in Cambridge, having arrived during an eventful Wednesday evening thunderstorm. It was great to be in Aspen, but it is even greater to be home. The presentation in Aspen was a great success, and I even did a live demo of the blog highlighting some of your comments. I'll be doing another presentation on the blog to a different audience in the beginning of July (I'll post an update on that as we get closer).
So, to the message.
- Waive: I have been receiving many questions about when you can start to provide health insurance waivers for the Fall. I called over to MIT Medical and was informed that the online waiver process will begin no later than July 11. As you all are aware, I'm sure, MITPAY statements will be produced by July 8 (the last workday before the 10th of the month), so you will all see health insurance charges listed on your bill. Once you waive the charges (by filling out the online waiver), you should deduct the amount of the health insurance from the bill you owe by August 1. Remember that you only need to waive the health insurance annually (based on what you choose), so once you have done this for the Fall, you should be able to see the credit on your account (using WEBSIS) and not need to submit a waiver for the Spring.
- Cosign: In the next several days we will begin processing self-help forms for domestic freshmen and all upperclass students. As part of the process this year, we will be awarding (depending upon your eligibility for these programs) one or more of the following loans (in this priority order): Federal Subsidized Perkins Loan, Federal Subsidized Stafford Loan, Federal Unsubsidized Stafford Loan, and/or a subsidized MIT Technology Loan. If you request work funds, we will award (again in the following order and based upon your eligibility) one or both of these programs: Federal Work Study, MIT Work Study. The MIT Technology Loan does require a cosigner and the terms have been changed since the publication of Making MIT Affordable. The MIT Technology Loan now features a 7% subsidized interest rate for the life of the repayment period, and standard deferment and forbearance provisions (all of which will be in the promissory note you receive when you sign for the loan). You and your cosigner will need to sign an application for the MIT Technology loan (they are not available at the present time). We will send you an application in a separate mailing.
Well, it is nice to be back. Much more news to come in the next few days.
Tomorrow morning, I will be jet setting across the continent as I make my way to Aspen, Colorado for the bi-annual (in this case, every other year) COFHE Financial Aid Director's Retreat. For those of you who do not know, COFHE is the Consortium on Financing Higher Education, a group of thirty-one private colleges who share common interests and concerns.
This year's conference theme is “Blue Skies: Envisioning the Future” and promises to be a great opportunity to network with colleagues and talk about the greater themes in the work we do.
One presentation to which I am especially looking forward is a sort of “Technology Show and Tell” during which I will be making a presentation on blogging as a new outreach tool for financial aid offices to consider. Since Matt and Ben have already done this for NEACAC this may seem “old hat” to you, but this will be the first time I am presenting on the subject to my financial aid colleagues.
As part of the presentation, we will be logging in to the blog to see its organization and purpose, so if you want to leave a message for the attendees, feel free to do so below by commenting on this post.
Besides the log in during the presentation, I will try to log in from under the “blue skies” of Aspen daily (I am taking my laptop with me), but just in case of technical issues, don't expect many updates until after I return (on Thursday).
Well as one year ends, another begins...
Today we are sending out nearly 1200 upperclass student award letters. This is the first round of award letters for upperclass domestic students for 2005-2006 (we started sending international upperclass student award letters several weeks agi). This mailing (with some small exceptions) will include everyone who completed by our priority deadline of April 15, 2005 (and will include many of you who completed through April 29, 2005).
Enclosed with this mailing will be one or both of the following forms (depending on your eligibility for them):
- The Self Help and Outside Award Reply Form (upperclass student version) -- On this form you identify to us how you want us to break out your self help into work and/or loans. Additionally, on this form you identify any outside scholarships of which we may not be aware. Please note that if you received an outside scholarship last year and told us it was a renewable scholarship, it will be included in your financial aid award letter and will have already been subtracted from your Self Help. If our information is in error please note that on your form when you return it to us.
- The Student Information Review Form (upperclass student version) -- This form assists us in matching your MIT Scholarship with a “named” donor fund. Your completion of this form is crucial as it ensures that we are able to offer need-based scholarship funding while meeting expressed donor preferences.
Both forms are due back to our office no later than July 1, 2005, although you are encouraged to send them sooner. Remember that the first bill for the Fall semester will be produced on July 10, 2005 and only by submitting these forms and having us process them will your aid be present on the bill.
For those of you who are not in this first round of award letters because you completed after our priority deadline, we will continue to read and send award letters on a weekly schedule for the next several weeks (at least until the first bill is produced and mailed). At this point, we have another approximately 500 files completed pending a financial aid officer's review. This includes all of you who completed your applications through today.
For those of you who are stll not complete, you need to immediately take any necessary steps to complete your file. We would like to get all upperclass awarding done in the next month so that we can turn our attention to helping you with the next part of this process, and that is:
Processing of your Self-Help and Information Review forms -- Beginning in the next several weeks, we will begin to process submitted self help forms, removing the “Self Help Award” from your award letter, determining (based on your expressed preferences and your eligibility) from which loan and work programs you may receive funding, and providing detailed instructions on how to do what is necessary to receive this funding. These letters should start to be sent in the next two to three weeks (Freshmen and Upperclass). Keep an eye on the blog for an update!
If you want a sneak peek at your financial aid award, take a look at WEBSIS as of Monday morning. By then, our update program will have run providing you an online view of your 2005-06 award letter.
In the meantime, here is a closing shot of our upperclass student project leader, Jason Shumaker, expressing his joy at the fact that the letters are on their way out the door!
To all this year's MIT graduates...
My hat's off to you...
For those of you who want to watch graduation live today, log on here.
Interesting article in the Washington Post on the pros and cons of merit-based scholarships (as you know, MIT does not offter merit-based funding).
Thoughts?
In case you didn't already know! -- See
here...
Some great photos of Killian Court as MIT gets ready for commencement on Friday.
See here for the pics!
Photos were taken by David J. Broderick, Audio Visual Project Technician, MIT AV.
Today is the last day on which 91-Day Treasury Bills can be auctioned prior to June 1. Why is this so important? Because the interest rates for Stafford and PLUS loans are based on this rate.
So with the information available now, it appears that the new interest rates for PLUS and Stafford for 2005-2006 will be as follows:
- Stafford Loans: 5.30% interest during repayment and 4.70% interest during grace and in-school periods (for unsubsidized loans). This compares to rates during 2004-05 of 3.37% and 2.77% respectively.
- PLUS Loan: 6.10% interest rate repayment. This compares to 4.17% for 2004-2005.
As you can tell, rates are going up. What should you do?
If you are a graduating student, you should consolidate NOW to lock in the lower interest rates for the life of your repayment (see my previous post for more information on consolidation). One concern, if you do consolidate now note that you will more than likely lose your grace period and go into immediate repayment, but over the life of the loan you will save much more by having consolidated!
If you are incoming student, and you are considering the PLUS Loan as your financing option, it is time once again to take a look at the Fixed Interest Rate option of the MEFA Loan program (the fixed interest rate on the immediate repayment option is 6.19% -- and this rate will never rise during your repayment -- see below for more information on alternative loans).
Time to talk a little about Alternative Loans.
First let's make sure we are all talking about the same things. When I use the term “Alternative Loans” I mean loans that are taken by parents (and/or students) which are used to finance your Expected Family Contribution. I am purposefully not including student loans (like the Perkins, Stafford or Tech Loan) in this conversation since they have different terms and are usually used to finance a part of the Self-Help.
In this discussion of Alternative Loans, first I think it is important to mention the six “biggies” that MIT uses, and later I will talk about the pros and cons of each.
- MEFA Loan -- Offered by the Massachusetts Educational Financing Authority (MEFA), this credit-based, family loan has several options (fixed vs variable, immediate repayment vs. deferred repayment).
- Federal PLUS Loan -- The Federal Parental Loan for Undergraduate Students (PLUS) is a credit-based, parental loan offered by MIT through the Federal government.
- Citibank Alternative Loan, Sallie Mae Signature Loan, Bank of America Loan, Nellie Mae Excel Loan -- These student-based cosigned loans are offered by outside providers and usually feature variable interest rates and deferred repayment.
- Another main source of financing for families is home equity loans (offered by local banks).
The first thing to remember as you consider what program is right for you is the popular (but very true) axiom “You get what you pay for.” In the realm of alternative loans, this means that the farther afield you go from the basic, “vanilla” loan (parent borrower, immediate repayment), the more expensive the option. And in many cases, what you pay for isn't worth the trouble anyway. Let's examine what I mean.
- Who borrows? The first issue many parents and students concern themselves with is who is the borrower. Some parents feel more secure when their son or daughter borrows the loan, rather than serving as the primary borrower themselves. This is usually false comfort however. There are NO alternative loans which will allow a student to self-finance without a credit-worthy cosigner, so parents will need to serve as a cosigner at a minimum. Additionally under credit law, a cosigner is equally and severally liable for any loan they sign. This means that the only benefit of being a cosigner is that you aren't mailed the bills; otherwise, if the bills aren't paid, the cosigner will be as liable as the primary borrower for lack of payment. In rare cases, you may find a loan program willing to loan to a student on her/his own signature, but students borrowing under these programs will need to have significant credit histories and income sources of their own. You'll pay for these options (no cosigner, student as borrower), even though you may not derive any benefit (or you may not be able to qualify).
- When do you pay? The second issue facing parents and students is the decision about when to begin repayment. Usually borrowers are given one or more of three options: immediate repayment, payment of interest only, or deferred repayment. The choice of a repayment plan is one of personal choice. If payments during the enrollment period are not possible, then certainly deferred payments may be the best choice, but you will pay for this option. Since these loans are (in every case) declining balance loans (meaning that upfront most of your payment is used to pay interest rather than principal in the beginning and as the loan carries on, the payment portions reverse), I do not recommend ever using the interest-only option. When choosing options other than the standard repayment, you will pay for this.
- What interest will you be paying? Another issue of which you need to be aware is that of interest rates. While most of the loan programs available feature variable interest rates (the notable exception in this is the MEFA loan), all variable rates are not the same. Some loans are based on the Prime rate (with a modifier), some on LIBOR, one (the PLUS Loan) on the 91-day treasury bill. These rates can change regularly, and it is important (if choosing a variable rate) to understand several issues: 1) what is the rate based upon, 2) how often has the rate changed in the past, 3) does the interest rate have a cap (a protection as to the highest interest rate which can be charged). If you choose a program which features an interest rate cap, you will probably pay for it.
So how do you pay for it? There are several ways in which loan agencies will pass their costs on to you, and in all cases you want to compare these costs. I would also suggest that it is often the case that when choosing “special” options from above these options are used to pass these costs on to you.
- Origination fees - These fees are either added to or subtracted from the amount of the loan you are borrowing. In some loan programs, the credit-score of your cosigner (or borrower) may result in a different origination fee (if you borrow without a cosigner, there will be a higher origination fee).
- Interest rates - Again, interest rates serve as a way to pass costs on to you as the borrower. In some programs, choosing different repayment terms or cosigner options may lead to a higher interest rate than the base program.
With all of this said, therefore, the two main programs which I recommend are the MEFA Loan (Fixed Interest Rate Immediate Repayment) and the PLUS Loan (although the interest rate for next year will be much higher than the rate this year -- look here for more news in the near future). If students must borrow, then it is a toss-up between the other three programs named.
Important note for those of you choosing to use the PLUS Loan. Keep in mind that MIT is a Direct-lending institution, therefore we do not participate in any FFELP PLUS Loans (where a bank or third-party serves as a lender). So, if you are interested in using the PLUS Loan, make sure you use our application form, not one from a bank or lender.
Questions, comments, clarification needed?
Here is an update to where things stand on the Federal Budget end. This also updates you all as to the status of the Perkins Loan action which I know many of you participated in previously (and I thank you for your help there).
This note comes to you via NASFAA (the National Association of Student Financial Aid Administrators) of which I am a member. There also is a call to action in this post and I would kindly ask your participation in letting your Congressperson know that you care about the issue of Federal funding of financial aid by acting on this update. (note: The update is written to financial aid administrators and I have not changed or modified it, so some of the language may not apply to you as a student or a parent of a student).
The following letter from NASFAA President Dallas Martin is an urgent request for Association Members to contact their congressional representatives in an effort to prevent appropriations cuts and program eliminations during in the Fiscal Year 2006 appropriations process.
May 26, 2005
Dear NASFAA Member:
I am writing with an urgent request that you immediately contact your two U.S. Senators and member of the House of Representatives. The FY 2006 Appropriations bill is starting to move through the legislative process and we need your help to preserve a $100 increase in the Pell Grant maximum award and to prevent cuts or the outright elimination of several Title IV federal student assistance programs.
From our Web site reports, you know the FY 2006 Congressional Budget Resolution made one particularly positive step in a tight budget year: it provided enough funding for a $100 increase in the Pell Grant maximum award for FY 2006 (the 2006-07 award year). However, the Budget Resolution also accepted the overall figure of $843 billion for discretionary spending that was proposed by the Bush Administration. This level is 1% below last year's levels, which could lead to student aid cuts in appropriations bills.
In many respects, a Budget Resolution is not self-enforcing. The House and Senate Appropriations Committee must translate funding provided in a Budget Resolution into subcommittee allocations. The House Appropriations Subcommittee on Labor, HHS, and Education and related agencies has received its allocation, which is slightly more than the President's request, but less than last year's bill. From higher education association lobbying activities that NASFAA participates in, we know that the $100 increase in the Pell Grant maximum award is in serious danger during the subcommittee's legislative markup action, which is expected to take place June 8 or 9.
As unfortunate as this is, we further understand that due to the tight Budget Resolution that translated into this subcommittee's allocation, it is entirely possible that the Appropriations Committee and subcommittee will adopt many of President Bush's budget recommendations calling for elimination of Title IV programs. Those program eliminations include the following programs: Perkins Loans (both FCC and loan cancellations), Leveraging Education Assistance Program (LEAP), Byrd Honors Scholarships, Thurgood Marshal Legal Educational Opportunity Program, GEAR-UP, and the TRIO Talent Search and Upward Bound programs.
I am asking you to write a letter and send it by fax or e-mail (but not by postal mail: see below for the reason) to your member of the House of Representatives (or several members from your state if your school has students from their districts) asking:
- That the $100 increase in the Pell Grant maximum award to $4,150 (as included in the Budget Resolution) be carried out in the FY 2006 Labor, HHS, Education Appropriations bill, AND
- That the higher education student assistance programs slated for elimination in the President's Budget Request be restored.
Send a copy of your communication to your member or members of the House and to any member from your state who serves on the House Appropriations Committee (and, especially, members of the subcommittee of jurisdiction, which is the Labor, HHS, Education subcommittee. If your state does not have such an individual serving on either of these committees, then a copy of your communication should go to the Chairman of the House Appropriations Committee, Rep. Jerry Lewis (R-Calif.); subcommittee Chairman Rep. Ralph Regula (R-Ohio); and the Ranking Minority Member on both the full House Appropriations Committee and the subcommittee, Rep. David Obey (D-Wisc.).
Finally, after determining by using the hyperlinks in the previous paragraph that your House member does not serve on the Appropriation Committee or subcommittee, please remember to ask in your letter that the member contact the Chairman and other Appropriations Committee members asking them to provide the Pell Grant increase and not cut or eliminate student aid programs.
Please send your letters ASAP, but no later than June 7. We are asking you to fax or e-mail your letter rather than using the Postal Service because a mailed letter will not be received in time. Delays in the delivery of postal mail of up to three weeks are caused by Congress's mail security system.
NASFAA is doing all we can do and we need your help if we are going to turn this around. I have seen the membership of NASFAA and the other higher education organizations respond at critical times in the legislative process and make a difference that helps our students, schools, and, ultimately, our nation. This is a critical time; please contact Congress now!
Sincerely,
Dallas Martin
NASFAA President