A recent article from Inequality.org highlights how the current federal tax and spending plan under President Donald Trump is making it harder for working-class students to afford higher education. While the administration claims to have “won affordability,” Satra D. Taylor, a doctoral student in the higher education program and first-generation college student, argues the reality is quite different.
Federal student aid programs like Pell Grants and the Grad Plus subsidized loan program helped me as I struggled [to pursue an education]. It still wasn’t easy. I worked two part-time jobs and still could barely make ends meet. But without that help, I wouldn’t be where I am today.
Now, the aid programs that I’ve depended on are under attack. Students are facing tighter borrowing limits and dramatically reduced repayment options, making it even more difficult to get out from under heavy debts. Under the new borrowing caps, the government plans to slash about $44 billion in aid over the next 10 years, affecting roughly 25 percent to 40 percent of graduate borrowers.
Making matters worse, the Pell Grant program, which helps more than six million low-income students a year pay for college, is facing a potential shortfall crisis. If Congress doesn’t put in new funds, the program’s deficit will skyrocket to $11.5 billion in 2027, and those grants could very well dry up.
