ASU Pell Grant recipients have mixed reactions to the Bush administration's proposal to cut "unnecessary" programs to relieve the program's $1.3 billion deficit.
Last year, 8,509 ASU students benefited from the grants, totaling more than $17 million. Many recipients this year also benefit but said budget cuts to fix the deficit in other educational areas should not occur.
Programs that may be cut include after-school programs, literacy and computer programs, and theater and dance programs.
The cuts have been proposed to Congress, and it is still undetermined which programs will be affected. It is also uncertain whether any ASU programs will be directly affected.
Heather Langham, a dance junior and a Pell Grant recipient, said that even though she benefits from the Pell Grant, she is still upset about any possible budget cuts for dance programs.
"I don't think it's fair," she said. "I could always get a job to pay for school, but dance programs need the money."
Langham doesn't have a job but is able to pay for tuition with her grant money.
On the other hand, microbiology sophomore Tony Walton, also a Pell Grant recipient, is happy to hear that the Bush administration is taking notice of the problem. Walton said that students should have to lose their financial aid.
"I need the money I get from the grant," he said. "Everyone should be able to get a chance to receive the grant, but they shouldn't have to take aid from other people."
Bush is also expected to ask that the Pell Grant's budget be raised from $10.3 billion to $10.9 billion.
More than 4.4 million students nationwide currently receive an average of $2,400 yearly from the grant.
However, the purchasing power of the grant has decreased since 1974 because of rising costs. According to Education Department figures, in 1974 a $1,050 grant would pay for 31 percent of private school costs and 60 percent of public school costs. Now, a $4,000 grant will only cover 17 percent of a private school's costs and 40 percent of a public school's costs.
Reach the reporter at terry.oreilly@asu.edu.
