A News Perspective: Stimulating College Funding

$787 billion, at least in my opinion, seems like an almost intangible sum of money. I don't even want to think about how many times 787 billion dollar bills laid flat on the ground could circle the planet. However, this is the amount of money in President Barack Obama's stimulus bill, which was signed on February 17. There is much debate as to whether or not the stimulus package is a going to actually stimulate the sagging economy.

As far as higher education is concerned, however, I think the stimulus plan could be very beneficial for college students.

According to the Associated Press (AP,) an estimated $32 billion of the stimulus package will be spent on higher education. A large part of that money will be spent to raise the amount of the maximum Federal Pell Grant.

The Federal Pell Grant is a need-based grant awarded to low-income undergraduate students. Currently, the maximum Pell Grant is $4,731, but Obama's stimulus package will raise the maximum amount to $5,350 beginning July 1, 2009 and to $5,550 for the 2010-2011 school year.

According to Kathleen Craine, the Assistant Director of Financial Aid at NEIU, about 3,000 students receive the Pell Grant each year. Although $500 and $600 increases may not seem like a big deal compared to $787 billion, with upcoming tuition increases the extra Pell Grant money definitely won't hurt.

Another part of the stimulus plan that affects colleges, according to the AP, is the raise of the tuition tax credit to $2,500. The stimulus will also make the tax credit 40 percent refundable. This is beneficial to returning students who are not eligible for the Federal Pell Grant or other grants and scholarships.

Al Cordero, a returning student at NEIU, says the tax credit helps returning students go back to school. "At the end of the year, we know it's gonna come back to us," said Cordero about the money he spends on tuition.

With the large amount of money that is about to be doled out across the economic board, it is good to know that the government thinks it is important that some of that money assists college students.

With the economy the way it is, right now is both a scary and relieving time to be in college; scary, because job prospects after graduation look less and less appealing every day, and relieving because still being in college means we can be hopeful that the economy might be better when we graduate.

I would love to know what the students of NEIU think about Obama's stimulus plan and the money being used towards higher education. Do you think college students deserve more than raised Pell Grants and tax credit? Do you think the stimulus plan isn't going to help you at all? How many times can 787 billion dollar bills circle the planet? Please feel free to answer these questions by commenting on my column at our Web site at http://www.neiuindependent.com. I'll publish the best comments in our next issue.