The student aid bill passed by the House along with the juggernaut health care vote Sunday won't greatly affect Ball State University, one official said.
The overshadowed bill must pass through the Senate — a likely outcome, experts say, as only a simple majority is needed — but would rewrite the 40-year-old student loan program. If passed, the government would loan money directly to students, eliminating the dependence on private lenders, and use the money saved to put about $36 million toward Pell Grants.
John McPherson, interim director of Scholarships and Financial Aid, said Ball State has been using a direct loan system for years and that wouldn't change anything. But he called the part giving more money to Pell Grants "a great thing."
"It looks like the greatest benefit of the legislation is shoring up the Pell Grants," he said. "There were concerns that the Pell Grants were running a huge deficit because everybody's eligible for the Pell Grant."
More money for Pell Grants means those eligible will receive more money. The government gives the grants to every student who qualifies, and that number has increased since the beginning of the recession. The government sets a cap on how much individual students can get — $5,350 this year and $5,500 for next year — and that money is divided between them based on need. This legislation would help to keep the money from being spread too thin among students, he said.
This bill would create a surplus rather than a deficit for the program.
Even so, freshmen Evan Vester and Nathan Powell are skeptical of the health care bill.
Watching coverage of the health care vote last night, Vester said he had just one question about the student loan provision: Where is the money coming from?
"Are we going to have to spend more in other places to make up for the extra money that's available?" he said. "If it wasn't available before, where is it coming from?"
Vester said he's also afraid the government could make a monopoly of the health care business.
Powell said he's against the entire health care plan. The only part he agrees with, he said, is making sure everyone with pre-existing health conditions are considered for health care.
Students seemed generally apathetic to the health care bill, saying they hadn't given much thought to their personal need for coverage after college. Slanted opinions presented from both Democrats and Republicans have also turned some students off from the issue.
The United States national debt is estimated at almost $12 trillion and growing, but sophomore Rebecca Oakes said the government needs to push on with what they're doing, including the provision to transfer funds from private student loans to federal subsidies.
"We can't wait for the government to get out of debt," she said.
Sophomore Rachel Hoke said students shouldn't look to federal loans and scholarships as a crutch to get through school, and they shouldn't criticize a president that was voted in largely by a young adult demographic.
"I think the people who supported him when he ran should support him now," she said. "People who don't support the health care plan should've paid attention to his ideas opposed to how popular he was when he was running."
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