Bush Cuts College Aid - Real Stories

[Guest guest]

America's Future | www.ourfuture.org

 

Dear M,

 

Do you, or someone you're close to, struggle to pay for college? Are you

discouraged that the tuition checks you write go up every year? Do you think an

affordable college education is an important part of the American dream? Are you

angry that the right wing is making cuts to college financial aid at the same

time it's working to extend tax cuts to millionaires?

 

If your answer is YES to any of these questions, please share your story with

us.

 

http://www.ourfuture.org/RealEducationStories.cfm

 

We want to take your story -- and the stories of other parents and students --

straight to the politicians who are considering additional cuts. We want to

prevent them from simply approving cuts without having to deal with the people

whose lives they're impacting. Finally, we want to take stories directly to the

media to make it even harder for politicians to duck the consequences of putting

millionaires before students.

 

Please share your story today and put a real face on the decisions these

politicians are making:

 

http://www.ourfuture.org/RealEducationStories.cfm

 

Just before Christmas, the Bush administration snuck through $300 million in

cuts to college financial aid.[1] These cuts eliminated Pell Grants completely

for nearly 100,000 students, and partially cut grants for over 1 million

more.[2] The cuts are scheduled to take effect this fall -- at the start of the

2005-2006 school-year -- but already there are efforts mounting in the Congress

to overturn them.

 

Your stories will energize and embolden the campaign to eliminate these cuts. By

exposing the real-world impacts of college aid cuts, your stories will raise the

political costs for any politician who continues to support them. Politicians

will have to face the people whose aid they propose to cut -- and the media and

public will be able to watch as they make their decisions.

 

So please share your story today. Let us know how important a college education

is to you and how cuts to financial assistance would impact you or people close

to you -- whether it's increased loan and debt burden, more time spent working

and less studying, dropping a class, or taking more out of your nest egg to pay

for your child's education. Tell us your story so that we can amplify it for the

media and politicians and pressure decision-makers to do the right thing.

 

http://www.ourfuture.org/RealEducationStories.cfm

 

Thank you in advance for getting out the real stories behind college aid cuts.

 

Sincerely,

 

 

Earl Hadley, Education Coordinator

Campaign for America's Future

P.S. If you know a college student or family who will be impacted by college aid

cuts, please forward this e-mail to them.

 

 

 

[1] The American Council on Education, Impact of Changes to the Pell Eligibility

Formula, January 3, 2005.

 

[2] ibid.