WashPIRG makes spooky prediction

WashPIRG raised the specter of declining federal aid for students at a HUB lawn press conference yesterday afternoon.

Surrounded by makeshift gravestones bearing epitaphs of "31 billion in unmet financial need" and "Buried alive by debt," WashPIRG members warned of a possible House bill that would reduce federal student loan programs by $15 billion.

Event organizer Nicole Allen described it as the "largest cut in financial aid history."

"If the budget cuts pass, it will reduce higher education opportunities," she said.

According to a new WashPIRG report, college students during the 2003-04 school year experienced more than $31 billion in unmet need.

WashPIRG calculates unmet need by adding tuition and living expenses and then subtracting financial aid. Organizers at the event said a family earning $62,000 still have $3,600 in unmet need each year they must cover.

"Congress is proposing to make this hole deeper," Allen said.

According to a press release, the House bill would only raise the Pell Grant maximum in the next six years by $200, an amount that doesn't keep up with inflation.

"Cutting financial aid, causing students to rely more heavily on loans, discourages students destined for lower-paying careers like teaching, where they would never be able to pay their loans back," said WashPIRG member Laura Folkestad, who spoke at the event.

WashPIRG isn't complaining about current levels of aid, Allen explained in a phone interview, but they want to stop the government from cutting it down.

WashPIRG worker Michael Yates, a student at Seattle Central Community College, expressed what he felt were his future education prospects by dressing as a ghost in a pale green sheet.

"Without aid, we don't exist (as students)," he said. "If we are going to compete in a global economy, we need to invest in students."

Earlier this month, WashPIRG hosted a call-in day at the UW, where students from Washington state colleges phoned legislators and asked them to vote down the cuts. UW students made about 60 calls.