[Congressional Record Volume 145, Number 54 (Tuesday, April 20, 1999)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E693]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

[[Page E693]]



 HOUSE CONCURRENT RESOLUTION URGING THE CONGRESS AND THE PRESIDENT TO 
   INCREASE FUNDING FOR THE PELL GRANT AND EXISTING CAMPUS-BASED AID 
        PROGRAMS PRIOR TO FUNDING ANY NEW EDUCATION INITIATIVES

                                 ______
                                 

                        HON. WILLIAM F. GOODLING

                            of pennsylvania

                    in the house of representatives

                        Tuesday, April 20, 1999

  Mr. GOODLING. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of a House 
Concurrent Resolution that calls on the Congress and the President to 
work together to increase funding for the Pell Grant Program and 
existing campus-based student aid programs before funding new education 
initiatives.
  This resolution establishes two priorities for higher education 
funding. The first priority is increasing the maximum Pell Grant 
awarded to students from low-income families to $3,525. This amount 
represents an increase of $400 to the maximum grant award and would be 
the largest increase since the inception of the program in 1972.
  The second priority involves increased funding for the existing 
campus-based student aid programs. These programs provide financial aid 
administrators at colleges across the country with considerable 
flexibility in the packaging of financial aid awards that best meet the 
needs of their students.
  The Pell Grant Program is one of the largest voucher programs in the 
country and it is considered the foundation program for all Federal 
student aid. Students eligible for a Pell Grant can use that money to 
attend one of more than 6,000 postsecondary institutions in the 
country.
  The Pell Grant Program was created in 1972 and the goal of the 
program was simple. Congress wanted to assist students from low-income 
families who would not otherwise be financially able to attend a 
postsecondary institution. In the first year of the program, 176,000 
students received Pell Grant awards. For the upcoming academic year, 
almost 4 million students are expected to receive Pell Grant awards. Of 
these students, 90% have family incomes under $30,000 and 54% of those 
families have incomes under $10,000. I believe we can all agree that 
the Pell Grant Program continues to serve the vital purpose for which 
it was originally created.
  Why increase the Pell Grant maximum by $400 dollars? In real dollars, 
the appropriated maximum individual grant, adjusted for inflation, has 
decreased 4.7% between 1980 and 1998. At a time when yearly increases 
in college costs have greatly exceeded the rate of inflation, as well 
as family earnings, the Pell Grant has covered less and less of a 
student's cost of attendance. Although all students and their families 
suffer as a result of exorbitant increases in the cost of attending 
college, students from low-income families suffer the most adverse 
consequences.
  Today, will billions of dollars available in student aid from the 
Federal government, State governments and institutions of higher 
education, children from high-income families continue to enroll in 
college at almost twice the rate of children from low-income families. 
For many of these families, the cost of college is the overwhelming 
factor in their decision to forego a college education.
  In 1997, we helped the President enact tax credits related to 
postsecondary education for middle and upper income families. At the 
same time, we voiced strong concerns about the need to continue making 
substantial commitments to the Pell Grant Program in order to assist 
those students from low-income families who would not receive any 
benefits from the new tax credits. Unfortunately, the President's 
request to increase the maximum Pell Grant by $125 dollars is not the 
substantial commitment I had in mind.
  In addition to the Pell Grant Program, this resolution supports 
increased funding for the campus-based student aid programs. While Pell 
Grants open the door to postsecondary education for many students from 
low-income families, it's the campus-based programs that provide these 
same students some degree of choice in selecting a postsecondary 
institution. After years of double-digit increases in the cost of a 
college education, the maximum Pell Grant no longer covers the cost of 
attendance at most public 4-year institutions in the country. However, 
a Pell Grant coupled with awards from the campus-based programs goes a 
long way in reducing the amount a student needs to borrow in student 
loans in order to pay the bills for tuition and room and board.
  The campus-based student aid programs also require institutions to 
provide matching funds in order to receive funds from the Federal 
Government. The $1.5 billion dollars devoted to the campus-based 
programs last year leveraged almost $400 million dollars in additional 
aid to college students across the country. These are fundamentally 
sound programs that have served our nation's college students well for 
the past three decades and we should consider them a higher education 
funding priority.
  I urge my colleagues to support this resolution and the higher 
education funding priorities it establishes for the Congress and the 
President.

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