A Senate Appropriations Sub-Committee is concerned whether the 2007 national budget will provide enough support for graduating high school students to enter college.
Additionally, the committee questions if the proposed elimination of the vocational education program is admissible in light of the insufficient federal funding.
Secretary of Education Margaret Spellings detailed President Bush's educational budget to dissatisfied Democratic senators and Senator Arlen Specter (R-Pa.).
Apprehensive senators also question the stagnation of the Pell Grant, the federal, non-repayable grant that is provided yearly to students form disadvantaged backgrounds. Since 2003 the Pell Grant consistently provides $4,050 at maximum.
Spellings' response to funding concerns was that students could begin their college education at a community college then transfer to a state university later.
Another facet of the budget was the administration's plan to make additional grants available to students who complete a rigorous course of study in high school and to students in fields like science, mathematics and engineering.
However, both parties are worried that students from disadvantaged backgrounds will be unable to receive these merit-based grants, particularly if they do not attend academically challenging high schools.
Also missing from the budget is funding for the TRIO and Gear Up programs, which help prepare needy students for college. The Carl D. Perkins Vocational and Technical Education program, which is worth $1.3 billion and helps train socially disadvantaged students for jobs, has been cut as well.
Instead, the Bush administration is planning on placing the funds into a program of high-school reform, giving states more flexibility in how they spend the money.
States that have successful programs could offer programs similar to the Perkins Program, but only after they have reformed their high schools. According to Spellings, $1.475 billion from the budget has been dedicated to this initiative.
As the national deficit has increased, so has college tuition. Tuition for an undergraduate at Hopkins in the 2006-2007 school year will be $33,900, which is a 7.2% increase from last year. Over the past decade student debt has increased by 50 percent.
Freshman and financial aid recipient Johanna Sheu said, "Although I'm not in a vocational program, the fact the government wants to cut student funding at all is really upsetting. $4,050 isn't even an eighth of our tuition. How can someone afford to go here if they only get that much money?"
