The Pros And Cons Of The Federal Grant Program

Formally known as the Basic Educational Opportunity Grant Program, the Federal Grant Program is considered the gateway to financial and higher educational opportunities for low-income students. It is a federal grant for undergraduate students who demonstrate financial need. The program was created in 1972 and was later renamed in 1980 after United States Senate Claiborne Pell who proposed the program. Signed into law by President Richard Nixon, The Federal Pell Grant is the first direct, post-secondary education program and is the largest federal need-based grant program for undergraduate college students. Compared to other outlets of financial aid that students receive such as federal loans, private bank loans, work study, SEOG, federal parent

The negative aspect of the Pell Grant is that many of those low-income students who receive funds do not go on to complete college and obtain a degree or certification and therefore federal money is view as a waste. Another problem that lies is federal Pell Grants cannot be used for many postsecondary courses such as trade school and other job training courses that lead to decent-paying jobs. Many want to extend the Pell Grant to short-term educational programs which will result in less debt and more jobs. For the past eight years, President Obama has made it his mission to improve the cost for postsecondary education by making it more affordable. We must keep in mind that Obama received little cooperation from the Republican Congress and legislative branch regarding his improvement on education. He did manage to "double the number of funds for Pell Grants which increased the number of recipients from six to nine million." He also made changes to the student loan program by allowing the schools to run the program directly, cutting out the banks who were receiving federal payments and putting the money saving toward Pell Grants. The problem is people were not

As the awarded amount increases annually, it makes it financially easier for students to pay but it continues to cost the U.S Department of Education millions of dollars. As long as the number of students does not exceed the amount budgeted for the program the Pell Grant is not viewed as doing more harm than good. According to President Donald Trump, he proposes to cut approximately $3.9 billion from the Pell Grant Program as a financial safeguard for the next few years. He has no intentions of using this most for further educational purposes which not only targets millions of students who depend on the federal Pell grant but it completely reverses all the hard work Obama created during his time in