Tough Budget for Loans and Pell - Libby A. Nelson, Inside Higher Ed

The House budget committee proposal calls for putting the Pell Grant “on a sustainable path by limiting the growth of financial aid and focusing it on low-income students who need it the most,” although it does not propose specific spending levels for the $40 billion program. Ryan has proposed substantial cuts in the past. It also called for making more data on colleges available to students and creating “policies that maximize innovation and ensure a robust menu of institutional options from which students and their families are able to choose.” But another proposal -- an accounting change that would affect how student loans are viewed on the government’s balance sheet -- could imperil future expansions to student loan programs by changing how the programs’ costs are scored by the Congressional Budget Office.