"Pell grants function much like an entitlement," an administration official said Friday, "yet they are funded through an annual appropriations process that can fall behind actual demand for the grants." Making the grant an entitlement would take some battling for the president on Capitol Hill. Obama proposed the idea last year, but Congress never took it up. The president hopes his second attempt will "address the recurring shortfalls in the program once and for all," the official said. The president’s budget would make $34.8 billion in Pell Grant aid available. When he took office, $18.2 billion was available. The plan would benefit more than 8.7 million students, compared with 7.7 million in the current school year. In California, the number of students who qualify would jump by more than 45,900, thanks to an additional $3.9 billion in new aid. An estimated 961,400 students currently receive Pell funding in the state.

Read full article [here].
by Christi Parsons, The Los Angeles Times.

Posted: January 30th, 2010, by: admin. Categories: . Awaiting Comments.