Advocates: Economic Stimulus Needed for Education Too: With the nation’s financial system in turmoil, many education leaders are calling for Congress and President- elect Barack Obama to earmark funding for schools and college students in a new economic stimulus package to help prop up the economy.
The Student Aid Alliance, an umbrella advocacy organization that includes historically Black colleges and Hispanic-serving institutions, is asking Congress for an immediate $500 increase in the maximum Pell Grant. Help for students and families paying for college should be “an integral part” of a new stimulus bill, the group says.
“History shows that during economic downturns and periods of job loss, Americans turn to postsecondary education,” according to a letter jointly written by alliance co-chairs Molly Corbett Broad, president of the American Council on Education, and Dr. David Warren, president of the National Association of Independent Colleges and Universities. A Pell Grant increase would provide a maximum grant of $5,300, or enough to cover 80 percent of average tuition and fees at a four-year public college or university.
