Take Action and Save Federal Student Aid

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On Monday, November 13th, the President of the SGA, Matthew Brodsky, sent out an email to Rutgers-Camden students, informing them of an important piece of legislation that is being passed around in Congress currently. The bill in question is attempting to cut all federal student aid programs in the U.S. This would affect hundreds of Rutgers-Camden students and millions more across the country.

In his email, Brodsky specifically states that the bill would affect “493 Rutgers-Camden students [that] currently benefit from the Federal Work Study program” and “550 Rutgers-Camden students [who] receive over $950,000 annually in Supplemental Educational Opportunity Grants.” Brodsky also states his clear opposition to the bill in his email, where he writes that “we cannot allow these cuts to happen.”

Let’s take a deeper look into the bill that is currently circulating in Congress. With the recent debt ceiling crisis within the government, different plans and resolutions have been passed around on how to cut government spending. One more recent solution was introduced by the Republican leadership in Congress as part of the FY 2024 Labor HHS appropriations bill, which looks to cut spending within education and workforce programs that are intended to support young people.

Looking aside from financial aid, only one aspect would be affected by the bill: support for low-income school systems, support for non-English-speaking students and students learning English, support for students and young adults entering the workforce, and teacher and principal training. Not only would this affect college and university students, but also K–12 students and educators, as well as young adults outside of higher education.

In regard to college and university student aid, the Republicans’ bill looks to eliminate $1.23 billions of government spending by eliminating the Federal Work-Study (FWS) Program, which provides over 600,000 subsidized on- and off-campus jobs to students to help them pay their way through college. It also threatens the Federal Supplemental Educational Opportunity Grant (FSEOG), a program supplying support to 1.7 million students using $910 million each year. Both of these programs require government financial aid, with eighty percent of the FSEOG Program’s recipients either coming from families who earn less than $30,000 a year or being completely independent. Cutting FSEOG and FWS will make higher education much more expensive for low- and moderate-income families and students and will decrease the number of young adults able to complete and receive degrees from colleges and universities.

So, what can students do to stop this from happening? Thousands of students across the country, as well as here at Rutgers, will be affected by the passing of this bill. That’s what makes it so important that students act. One of the best ways to do this is to talk about it. The news about these programs being under attack is going relatively unnoticed, so we as students need to speak up. Whether this means posting about it on social media or simply talking about it with friends and family, People need to know about this issue.

Another great step in stopping this bill from being passed is by contacting your representatives and senators. Websites like the Student Aid Alliance have easy ways to email your representatives and senators, allowing you to do it all right from their website using a pre-provided script that you can customize. President Matthew Brodsky’s email to Rutgers-Camden students also provided a more in-depth script that could be used in an email. You can also call your representatives or senators and use a similar script.

This issue is incredibly important, and students need to act now before it’s too late. So, reach out to your Representatives and Senators, tell your friends about the issue, and share this article or other information you see about the bill. Students need to work together to save student aid.

Sources:

Shoemaker DeMio, Paige, et al. “House Republican Budget Threatens Public Education and Opportunity for Young People.” Cap 20, 13 Nov. 2023, www.americanprogress.org/article/house-republican-budget-threatens-public-education-and-opportunity-for-young-people/. Accessed 16 Nov. 2023.

“Student Aid Priorities.” Save Student Aid!, studentaidalliance.org/. Accessed 16 Nov. 2023.