House votes to cut student aid
Staff Report
The Collegian
The U.S. House of Representatives decided by one vote early this morning to cut $50 billion from student loans, Medicaid, food stamps and child welfare.
The 216-215 decision will slash $14.3 billion from student aid, said Luke Swarthout, a higher education associate with the State Public Interest Research Groups. Swarthout said the average student borrower already incurs $17,500 in debt and with the bill’s passage could end up paying up to $5,800 in additional interest payments.
The State PIRGs said the bill’s passage will lead to the largest cut in student aid in history, and estimate nearly half a million California students will be affected by the its passage.
“This will make borrowing more expensive and harder for millions of students and their families,” Swarthout said.
He wouldn’t speculate on what the bill’s passage will mean for students who are dependent on aid, but said:
“The fear of excessive loan debt can cause some students not to attend college.”
The vote came after the House had earlier kept education out of the crosshairs by voting down a $602 billion bill aimed to reduce spending on education, health and labor by $1.5 billion from last year’s budget.
In that vote unanimous Democrats and 22 Republicans combined for the 224-209 vote.
Worried after the first bill’s defeat, Republicans had pushed back the second bill’s vote, the second postponement for that legislation since a week before when the bill lacked support.
The bill was designed by Republicans to reduce the deficit over five years
Democrats said such cuts to the budget are the result of Republican-supported tax cuts.
They also said programs like No Child Left Behind and Pell grants for higher education are some other educational casualties the bill’s passage incur.
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