Trump’s Pell proposal appalls critics

Grants for low-income students would go to moon

“President Trump and his team should stop wasting their time on theatrics.” Rep. Rosa DeLauro, D-Conn.

Trump administration wants money meant for low-income college students shifted to help cover the bill for a NASA moonshot by 2024.

Hold up, said outraged education advocates, who fear moving funds from Pell Grants to space exploration could ratchet up college costs and send a message that the president doesn’t value helping poor students pay for school.

“Most of your readers would wonder: Do I want to make college more expensive to fund space travel to the moon and to Mars?” said Jon Fansmith, director of government and public affairs with the American Council on Education, a university association group.

The administration proposed a budget amendment this week that would transfer nearly $4 billion from a surplus in the Pell Grant program, which is meant to help low-income students pay for college.

The transfer wouldn’t affect students currently benefiting from Pell Grants, and the administration expects the program to have “sufficient discretionary funds until 2023,” according to language in the budget amendment.

The Pell Grant program is running a surplus of nearly $9 billion, according to The Associated Press. The transfer would need to be approved by Congress.

NASA would get $1.6 billion in addition to the $21 billion the administration proposed in its 2020 budget request for the year beginning in October. President Donald Trump said in a tweet that the goal was to get America back to “Space in a BIG WAY!”

Pell Grants are awarded to undergraduates who wouldn’t be able to afford college otherwise. Unlike loans, the federal government doesn’t require the grants be paid back. The amount given varies on the level of a student’s need and the cost of the college or university; the maximum for the upcoming school year is $6,195.

About one in three undergraduate students receive a Pell Grant, but the percentage of students benefiting from the award has fallen in recent years, according to data analyzed by the College Board. The maximum amount a student is eligible to receive has increased in recent years.

Many on Twitter expressed outrage over the idea of encroaching on the Pell Grant program and shared stories of how the money made it possible for them to obtain their education.

Democratic lawmakers criticized the plan. Rep. Rosa DeLauro, D-Conn., head of the House appropriations subcomThe mittee that oversees education, called the bill “dead on arrival.”

“President Trump and his team should stop wasting their time on theatrics,” she said in a statement. “Instead, I will continue to do my job governing and funding critical programs that help people in every stage of their life.”

Sen. Kamala Harris, D-Calif., said many students forgo essentials to pay for college already.

Rep. Steve Cohen, D-Tenn., said on Twitter that he was for funding NASA but not at the expense of Pell Grants.

The plan is shortsighted, Fansmith said. About a decade ago during the recession, the number of students who took advantage of Pell Grants shot up as people returned to college rather than looking for work in a bad economy. That led to a strain on the program, which then affected the number of people who could take advantage of it.

The economy is doing well, Fansmith said, but drawing from the program could weaken its ability to handle an economic downturn.

Tamara Hiler, deputy director of education at the left-leaning think tank Third Way, said the administration could find other places in the budget to fund NASA. The rising cost of tuition and inflation will probably drain the surplus, she said.

“It’s just more important that we keep that reserve intact as much as possible, given that we know more people are going to be going into higher education because we know that’s what the job market is demanding,” Hiler said.

The Ed Trust, a nonprofit advocacy group focused on low-income students and students of color, urged Congress to not only reject the proposal but also double the Pell Grant award and automatically increase it to match inflation.

It would be hard to know whether the amendment would affect the funding of Pell Grants, said Jason Delisle, a fellow who studies higher education financing at the American Enterprise Institute, a conservative think tank.

“If the maximum grant is going up and the surplus is going down, maybe they aren’t really related,” Delisle said. “Whatever bad thing people said is supposed to happen, where is it?” Contributing: Ledyard King Education coverage at USA TODAY is made possible in part by a grant from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. The Gates Foundation does not provide editorial input.