Pell Grant is a post-secondary educational Federal grant sponsored by the U.S Department of Education. Enacted to help undergraduates of low-income families in receiving financial aid. It was enacted in 1965, and is named after U.S. Senator Claiborne Pell
Tea Party acitivist Paul Ryan recently put a lifetime limit on Pell Grants through a budget appropriations bill that President Obama signed into law. Everywhere you look, the headline is that President Obama did this, but it happened during the debt ceiling crisis, and it was stuck in there during the negotiations.
The limit begins during the 2012-13 year. This limit has left many poor, disabled, and middle class students with a limit on their Pell Grants. The limit is 600%. There are no appeals, that's it. Once you have reached this limit, you are out of luck, and it is retroactive.
If you are going for your bachelors, you quickly run out of money. You run out of money, because many students, like me, can't finish a semester, because of health related problems, they find their chosen major is not where they want to go, or for family reasons. We never had a limit, because many institutions have their own limits, which are very reasonable. These limits are determined by the state legislators.
I am a disabled student who attends part time, and now I am faced with a huge dilemma. I can only go part time for 2 more years, but I need to go 2 more after that to complete my bachelors degree in computer science.
I had to start from the bottom up, meaning, I had to do 2 years of preperatory work for English and Mathematics, before I could go into College English and Mathematics. This used up a part of my 600%. I also found that my chosen major was not what I wanted to do, or would be benficial for a job. I went for 2 semesters in that major, and that ate up a portion of my 600%. You can see how quickly, one can use up the allotted 600%.
Granted, I should have been able to do the math and English before I started college, but I was 42, and didn't remember a lot of it from high school. Not everyone going to college is in the 18-20 year old range. Many older Americans have gone back to college, because of the dismal job market.
Please consider signing this petition, and ask president Obama to do an executive order overturning this catastrophic law. If we have enough money for wars and never taxing the wealthy, then why don't we have enough money to educate the needy in this country?
