GOP cuts could hurt student aid

The House budget would slash loans University students may have to pay as much as $19.3 million more in federal loan costs over the next seven years if proposals by Republicans in the House of Representatives are approved by the Senate, according to a statement from the White House. Currently, more than 9,700 University undergraduate and graduate students receive federal loans. The proposals, which would significantly cut appropriations to the departments of Education and Labor, call for the increase of federal college loan costs for five million undergraduate and 725,000 graduate and professional students nationwide by an estimated $10 billion over the next seven years. In addition, the proposals seek to eliminate in-school interest subsidies -- a program that subsidizes interest on a loan while a student is in school -- for needy graduate students with Stafford Loans. If the proposals are passed, University students could see loan costs increase as much as $1,426 for a student borrowing the maximum allowable over four years, according to the White House statement. "We expect cuts in virtually every program," said Vice President for Government, Community, and Public Affairs Carol Scheman. "However, the magnitude of the cuts will not be known until the proposals are passed. "Penn has been very dependent on the range of student aid programs enacted by Congress in the last few decades," she added. "Through these programs, we have been able to maintain a policy of need-blind admissions." The need-blind admissions policy ensures that financial needs are not factored into admissions decisions. All Ivy League schools have this policy. Scheman said she hopes that none of the current programs will be jeopardized. "One thing President [Judith] Rodin is committed to is need-blind admissions," she said. When the proposals are first put into effect, students will probably see little change. However, according to Scheman, this will not be the case down the road. "There will be no changes immediately, but we could see some minimal to significant changes in student aid in the future," she said. President Bill Clinton has been on a lobbying drive to schools across the United States to warn students of the impending cuts. At Southern Illinois University, he stated that the Republican cuts are "penny-wise and pound-foolish." In response to Clinton, House Republican Chairperson John Boehner (R-Ohio) told Newsday that Democrats were launching a "student-loan scare campaign" to threaten Republican proposals. Boehner also stated that the Republican proposals "will not cut a single student loan." The GOP cuts are part of their seven-year plan to balance the federal budget. Both Republicans and Democrats are maneuvering to prevent a "train wreck" shutdown of the government -- which would occur if the fiscal 1996 budget is not passed by October 1.